"Are you sure we should be out here..?"
Silvester growled back at Norris for the question, the man recoiling.
"It was just a simple question. You know Tan won't come out here and get us and there are packs of lions. Even we can't deal with the larger packs with just the four of us."
Silvester scoffed. He wasn't worried about the monsters within the jungle. His keen sense of smell allowed him to navigate it easily enough to avoid anything he wanted to.
No, what Silvester was worried about was the newcomer.
"What do you think has got him so grumpy…?" Norris asked, leaning over speaking in a whisper to Vale.
Vale shrugged her shoulders, pushing Norris's head away from her.
"I haven't the slightest. You know he isn't one for speaking. I was surprised when he even spoke to ask us to come along."
"It's the new guy," Gnobin sighed.
"The cute one?" Vale asked, slightly piping up.
Gnobin nodded, "We all know how strong Tan is," he paused, "And we all know the trouble it brings…"
Norris gave an awkward smile as they continued to follow Silvester's lead.
"Come on Gnobin. If it wasn't for Tan we would never have survived this long."
"If it wasn't for Tan we wouldn't be in these situations from the beginning!" Silvester snapped, surprising Norris and Vale.
Gnobin sighed again, putting a furred hand on Silvester's shoulder.
"That is the way it is, Silvester, you know that. If it wasn't him it would be someone else. Every squad has at least one stand out. I don't know why you think this guy is any different."
"The smell…" Silvester grumbled.
"What about it?"
"He smells different."
"We all smell different. I mean have you even stood within a few feet of Ganeer?" Norris chuckled.
"No, you rat! I've never smelled anyone as… potent as him before. Even on our missions, the handlers don't even come close," Silvester growled.
Vale waved him off, "Please, the closest to a full fledged Primordial on our squad is myself and Tan, Silvester. And even after all of our missions, we still haven't seen how strong Tan truly is."
"That's my point. We've only been lucky so far because that moronic self inflated sapling of the Elves hasn't realised that about Tan yet!" Silvester spat.
"Hey man, I'm part elf you know. You don't have to be so insulting," Norris countered, his face twisting in faux hurt, "Or was it part dwarf…" he shrugged.
Silvester gave up, keeping to himself.
They may not see, or care about the consequences of keeping another strong half-blood. But I have a family to get back to. I have to survive this for only a few more years and I'll be able to pay my way to freedom. My family. My boys. They won't have to ever go through something this horrifying or cruel! He thought.
I'll do whatever it takes to keep our chances of being put into something more than we can handle. Even if it means that kid has to get lost in the jungle to do it.
Silvester's nose went up taking in a deep breath.
"I can smell blood mixed in with his scent."
Gnobin's nose went up as well, "Yeah I smell it. That's a lot of blood."
Silvester moved forward, continuing to track the trail as the rest followed.
"I've been meaning to ask but what exactly are we going to do with the new guy once we find him?" Norris questioned, his hands in his pockets as they strode along.
"I have been wondering the same thing. I would rather be by the fire… It's good for my skin," Vale pouted.
"I'll be persuading him to get lost in this jungle. Permanently," Silvester answered.
"I do not think our definitions of persuasion are quite the same Silverster," Vale snickered.
"Do you think this is funny?" he snapped.
"Everything we do is quite funny. Meaningless struggle for a temporary life, despite knowing a tragic ending awaits us. I am half Phoenix Silvester, yet even I will die because of the whims of the Old Gods. What could be more comedic?"
Gnobin stopped them both, his hand going up.
"Silvester," he urged in a hushed tone.
Silvester's nose went up again, his brows suddenly furrowed in confusion, "What is that? Gnobin I've never smelled anything like this…"
Gnobin nodded as Vale and Norris shared a look.
Silvester pressed forward, the sound of whatever was fighting still growing louder. But not only did the sound of the fight begin to rise, the air was becoming heavy, thicker even.
Their breath began to run ragged as if they had trekked through the jungle for months in just a mere few steps. The group was filled with veteran half and partial Primordials. Walking should not even phase them.
Something up ahead was suppressing them, pushing down so immensely to make the very air seem heavy.
The group heard deep growling as Silvester carefully peeled back leaves obscuring their way. Revealing a scene they had only witnessed sparsely on the battlefield.
Countless Sun Touched Lions laid dead on the ground, some even in trees with obvious broken and twisted limbs, blood dripping down the trunks of trees and the fanned leaves that covered them.
In the middle of it all they saw the man they were looking for, two enormous Lions on either side of him.
"T-those are the Lion Lords of the planet…" Norris stammered, looking at the carnage on the ground around Drake, "He did this all on his own?!"
Vale, a usually talkative person, was speechless. Her mouth opened and closed as if her brain was malfunctioning trying to produce words.
Silvester paused for a moment, too stunned to immediately comprehend the situation they had just stumbled into. He had found the man he was looking for, but the newcomer had also found more trouble than Silvester was willing to deal with.
His thoughts finally catching up, he spoke in a low tone, "Everyone keep quiet and be ready to move."
"Ready to move…?!" Norris parroted in disbelief, looking at Vale and then Gnobin, "He can't be serious. Are we not looking at the same thing here? We should get out of here and forget everything we've seen."
Silvester gave a low growl back at Norris, as if to say, 'Have some backbone!"
Gnobin's hand rested on Silvester's, "Are you sure? Think about your family."
"Why do you think I'm even considering this?" Silvester leered, motioning to Drake and the two massive monsters locked in a staring contest, "If any of the Old God's spawns get a whiff of how strong he or Tan is, we are all finished and I will never see them."
Silvester raised an open furred hand, a clear thin vial materialized in it.
"Get your steroids ready…"
Vale scoffed, "I am not taking those things unless Tan tells me to. I won't be going insane just for your ideals," she waved her hand, "Besides. My support magic isn't affected by the steroids."
Norris gave a wry smile and shrugged his shoulders, "Same here Silvester. I'm just the support recon. I'm not much help in a fight in the first place."
"Cowards," Silvester growled under his breath.
Gnobin on the other hand, stood next to his friend, a fur clawed hand holding a similar vial.
They nodded to each other, but their attention was quickly forced to refocus. A loud roar with so much force it moved the leaves and made the ground rumble.
Gnobin let out a held breath, "I don't think we will have to step in. Even Tan would struggle with those two."
Silvester sniffed the air again. He wasn't so sure.
The man stuck between the two monstrous beasts seemed to have a confidence Silvester couldn't understand.
They knew his level, he wasn't wearing anything abnormal or that would conceal his status like Tan had.
[Drake Wallen Level 31]
Before he could think further, the Lions roared again. And with a brief flash of serrated claws, Silvester thought the fight had ended.
But the Sun Touched Lion that had swiped seemed to be just as confused, looking at its paw with a visibly curious expression.
Drake was standing in the same place, unscathed.
The other monster, the Moon Touched Lion growled, lifting a paw and brought it down. The force of the strike kicked up leaves and embedded itself into the ground
However Drake had yet again not moved. Or at least to Silvester's eyes he had not, yet he was unharmed.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing. And neither could the monsters. Their growls of displeasure filled the air as they began to crackle with power.
Each one seemed to be preparing their respective elements for a strike, both horns on top of their heads lighting up and illuminating the area in white and orange glows.
Silvester's hand squeezed the vial in his hand ever tighter in anticipation.
Drake again refused to move, the air around him exuding a cold confidence as he stared down the Lions.
In the next moment the spells the Lions prepared released from their horns, the air thick with mana and pickling Silvester's skin like electricity, his fur standing on end.
The spells shot forward, but found no purchase as both strikes of an icy bolt and fiery orange streak passed through Drake striking the ground behind him.
Both monsters were too frustrated to hold back further, their gold and white coats bristling in a red and green glow signalling them activating skills.
The Moon Lion swiped from right to left, the Sun Lion doing the same left to right.
This time Silvester saw Drake move, spinning in between the strikes and grabbing the Sun Lion's massive paw in both hands. And with a twist the Sun Lion's gold fur was painted a more crimson red as it howled in pain.
Drake hit the floor facing the Moon Lion, its serrated teeth closing in around him from both sides.
He sidestepped with ease. The Lion skidded across the ground but quickly rose with a growl and charged Drake once more.
The sequence repeated, the Moon Lion attacked in every direction with speed Silvester could never hope to defend against. However Drake was dodging the attacks with such precision and practice it was maddening.
Every second, several strikes were made against Drake. But it was as if the Moon Lion was playing catch up, no, Drake was playing with the beast of the jungle that every bastard on the planet was warned from getting into conflict with.
The Sun Lion recovered remarkably fast, displaying its incredible recovery abilities in mere seconds. It's twisted and mangled paw, set back into place and trained it right back at Drake who was still locked in a game of cat and mouse with the Moon Lion.
Joining the other monster, the Sun Lion covered itself in flames, its strikes leaving lines of orange-yellow in the air.
The Moon Lion became desperate, igniting itself in a veil of what looked like cold permafrost.
But that was when Silvester noticed something. His jaw dropped in disbelief.
Drake had remained on the same patch of jungle that they had seen him when they stumbled on the area.
The seconds stretched, the skirmish between the three increasing in pace and magnitude with more and more debris being kicked up. Leaves and branches of trees, freezing over and igniting into flames from one second to the next. The ground erupting in pillars of white ice only to melt and bubble, evaporating into scalding heat which only served to obscure the fight more.
But this didn't seem to bother Drake as he continued to seemingly play with the Lions. Like a wolf plays with its cubs.
However, the fight shifted in an instant. Drake's hand blocked and diverted the Sun Lion's paw downward into the ground, the impact area turning red hot.
Turning in the same motion his leg rose, slamming into the side of the Moon Lion's head. The Moon Lion's body fumbled to the ground, shaking from the impact.
Drake landed steadily, then vanished, moving faster than Silvester's eyes could follow. The only indication of where he was, the howling of agony the Sun Lion went into. The monster's head turned rigidly to the side. Drake there, his arm buried into the ribcage of the beast.
The Sun Lion slumped to the ground as the Moon Lion rose unsteadily.
It seemed with all his speed, Drake was unable to pierce the Giant Lion's tough hide with his strength alone.
The Lions gathered themselves, Drake watching wordlessly as if allowing them to recover. But as they assaulted him once more, it seemed Drake was done playing this game of cat and mouse.
For the second time he moved from the patch of jungle he was so settled on. The Sun Lion struck first, lunging at Drake with both forepaws. But the man slipped in close with ease, his arms going around the neck of the beast.
And with a loud crunch, its head twisted, the fire around it extinguished, its body toppling to the ground.
The Moon Lion roared, shooting a ray of ice, that just like before missed Drake as if passing through him.
Visibly frustrated the Moon Lion charged, unwilling to take the insult of its prey escaping its grasp any longer.
Drake waited patiently in front of the Sun Lion's corpse. The Moon Lion closed the distance in a fraction of a second despite its massive body, pouncing forward its maw and claws spread wide. But once again Drake was faster, far too nimble for the Lion to capture.
The Moon Lion's claws tore at nothing but air, landing on top of the body of its fellow Lion. Once planted on its feet it paused, confusing Silvester. That was until he heard the snapping of bone and the monster's fore limbs bent in on themselves as it cried in agony.
Silvester only noticed Drake when the Moon Lion's head turned upwards, revealing where he had went.
He was standing on top of the beast's back, his fist raised and ready to punish the monster from above.
Drake opened his first, aiming his palm down and with a grunt slammed it down into the Moon lion's back.
The monster wailed in agony for one moment before another strike came. This time the monster's wail came in a gurgle as blood rushed from its mouth. The permafrost covering the beast dissipated and the light from its horn faded as it slumped against its brethren.
Silvester and the rest of his group let out an audible exhale, they had only noticed now but they had all been holding their breath as they witnessed this merciless beatdown.
"That… That couldn't have been more than a minute," Norris stammered from behind.
Silvester shook his shock from his body, clenching the vial in his hand tightly.
It had to be now. He thought.
"He has to be exhausted from that. We have to go now!" he growled, uncorking the tube.
But he was stopped, a shiver running down his spine. He slowly raised his head and staring back at him was Drake.
Blood covered his person, his breath visible in the still frosty air above the Moon Lion. Solid deep ruby eyes glowing and staring back. Glistening golden hair like rays of sun lightly swayed in the breeze.
"H-he isn't one of us…." Silvester stammered, "He's a monster-"
The next moment Drake appeared in front of him breathing heavily and ragged. But something was off.
"I-I w-won't!" Drake groaned.
"N-no!"
His head wiped as if he was trying to get something out of his head for a brief moment before his head snapped back, one crimson red eye peeking through the golden strands of hair.
"R-RUN YOU FOOLS!"