Alie (2)

"Alright, see you guys later, I guess," Barcova said, and without waiting for a reply, he took to his wings. This time, he was sure Bamboo wouldn't stop him.

"Well, that was rude." This was Maple, but she didn't seem to mind, for her mind was in something else. With a playful chuckle, she shoved at Bamboo and vanished, reappearing a few meters away. Bamboo smiled and swung a fist, and even without warning, he felt the power of lightning charging from himself.

A bolt of lighting was thrown, but sadly it could only extend barely 3 meters away.

"Is that the farthest you can throw?" Maple asked after she finished gawking at Bamboo's power. This was the first time she was seeing it, and she had to admit, it was pretty impressive. Well, at least she had something to mock him with.

"How far can you go, and how many people can you go with?" Bamboo asked her. She hadn't thought of testing her limits, so she decided to do it. Channeling all her inner strength, as that was the only thing she felt she could channel at the moment, she aimed at a distant location. However, her teleport was cut short nearly 10 meters away.

While this distance wasn't so far, for someone who specializes in instant attacks, moving 10 meters was such a wonderful gift to shock and awe the target, and with her fast maneuvers, she could easily take them down at the moment of distraction.

Unknown to them, 2 were looking on. The first was Dane, as he was actively monitoring his subordinates to predict their actions, while the other was Barcova. Though he had pretended to fly away, he had wished to stick around the 2.

His whole life he'd been a loner, and he took pride in never needing anyone else, but with these 2 lavels, he strangely found a sense of kindred spirit, as they get him, and they understood how it felt to be him. His antisocial behavior wouldn't let him mingle with them as freely as he'd have liked, and not to mention being a vasil, it was generally a disgrace to consider a lavel an equal.

All these notwithstanding, Barcova truly wished to become friends with the 2, and as they went on about carefree, a tinge of longing and jealousy swept in Barcova's heart. Dane nodded approvingly as he saw this, since he wanted to foster a sense of family, and the wildest card in the group was Barcova. Having that assurance that he would stick around, especially when times got rough, made him satisfied with his choice.

For now, all he could do was watch on, too afraid to approach them.

This has been part of Dane's calculation. Dane had given then a very vague challenge, "prove yourself..." on purpose. He did not give any specifics, as had he done that, the antisocial behavior in Barcova would have led to him to do the exact opposite.

It did not escape Dane's notice that Barcova had been quite a low key all this while. Even in the trials, while he had the obvious cheat of having his powers awakened already, he didn't use it until he was completely overwhelmed. He had intentionally hidden and remained in the cover.

While Dane could just go ahead and pick another vasil, there was a reason why he stuck with Barcova. Firstly, most vasils were so fascist in their thinking they wouldn't dare interact with lavels, instead preferring to think themselves superior. Barcova however, was less inclined to such beliefs and was more opportunistic. He wouldn't have trouble going under the wing of a lavel commander.

The second reason was more profound. What no one on the planet, save of Dane of course, had yet to discover was that at the suns affected the power development of the species. The yellow sun favored the vasils, and the red sun favored the lavels. That was why it even seemed as though Dane was favoring the lavels over the vasils, this was because, for the next few generations, until the planet finished its revolution around the red sun, the lavels would come out on top.

This had been the case while they were orbiting the yellow sun, that was why it seemed as though the vasils had the upper hand. Unknown to them, their advantage was the slightly bigger star they saw in the world, which was no bigger than the moons, and soon they would be out of range of its powers.

It had already started, but in a few generations, one would be hard-pressed to find a vasil that had awakened its power. Of course, the reverse would be true for the lavels, and Dane had considered these two factors. He would build up the lavels, and when the time came, build up the vasils. That way, he would form legacies from both species and establish himself as the true foundation of the planet.

Meanwhile, the one who must walk a solitary path was finally making some headway into the current predicament. He had been wading through the murky path. It was hot and dry, yet he couldn't see a thing. The heat didn't get to him much, but the lack of any moisture made him perched.

As he advanced, the cave began to get damp, and at times he would slip and slide. There was even moss on some of the rocks, and he noticed a distant rumbling like he was approaching a storm. Still, he advanced.

He cursed himself for his stupidity. Why did he have to follow a damn raven, he'd just gotten his freedom. He hated the fact that he had led himself into this hell hole. He had lost the sense of all direction, he didn't know which way was forward and back, and right now all he was looking for was a way out.

When he heard the storm, he concluded that this must be it, the outside, he'd never heard of a storm in a cave, and anywhere was better than where he was, even a stormy forest.

Painstakingly, he followed the rumblings until he finally saw some light, other than the one he was emitting with his body. He scrambled forward. Though it was faint, it was something.

To his surprise, it was coming from a flowing river. Cautiously, he approached, only to find the source was molten magma, flowing at such a high speed. He looked up, and what he saw made him almost shriek.

All across the expanse lay the most disturbing region he had ever seen. There was a heavy storm brewing in a murky night. However, he saw glowing rivers flowing, which he guessed to be the main source of light. He also concluded that they too were magma rivers just like the one in front of him. These extended to the mountain ranges, which were also glowing, indicating a very active volcano, of course, Alie didn't know that.

The lake area was also caught in the storm, and hence huge waves blew. All in all, the entire area was in a confused eerie state. It should have been freezing and dark, almost as dark as the area he'd been in before. Yet, the molten rock flowing changed all that, instead of cold and freezing, it was hot as an oven, and hence the storm was a comfort. How hot does the magma have to be to not be affected by a raging storm?

However, the most surprising thing about all this was the two large glowing orbs beaming down at him. Based on their shape and color, and the fact that they kept blinking, he could tell they were eyes, but what being would have such terrifying eyes?

With terror, he realized that they were drawing closer, and as it did, it approached a magma river, and at that moment he got to see it as it was.

Huge, utterly huge! Large horns extending from the top of its head, golden scales on its back, massive wings, claws like spears and teeth like swords, only one word, stupendous! That was not all, as the pressure that those two eyes gave made him unable to move. He felt as though he was already dead, and it just needed to open its mouth and he would hop in and become a light snack.

Dane had chosen to show up in his dragon form, which he now thought of as his true form since his human form had caused nothing but trouble. Even then, Dane did dial down his aura to a point where the one he was looking at wouldn't feel any threat, it was as though he was playing with them, yet the little lavel was terror-stricken. Had he added any killing intent in his gaze, the lavel would have been long dead due to fear.

Furthermore, Dane was a divine being who could take on multiple consciousnesses at once. Once he needed to distract himself, he had to take on thousands of consciousness, each engaging in complex work, to be distracted, and this only lasted for less than a minute before his consciousness adapted once more. Such was the absolute power that Dane commanded, and hence, he decided to also summon the form of the old wizened lavel, Kendar.

"Are you hungry?" A voice of an old lavel floated to his ears, momentarily distracting him from the monster that stood before him.

"N-no... No M-Mister..." He mumbled. In truth, he was famished, and he didn't know how to react. Having been a slave, it was not uncommon for guards to trick slaves by tempting them with food, and he didn't want to be that.

"You DARE refuse the kindness of the great dragon?"

Shock and fear instantly registered on his face, and as he turned to look between the lavel and the dragon, he couldn't help but stutter, "No... I mean Yes, Please, I am starving!! I am ...."

Alie would have gone on and on, but he was shocked as he heard some strange sound coming from the dragon. It didn't sound like a growl, or a roar, no, there was even mirth in it, was it... laughing?

"You amuse the great dragon, the table is set behind you."

Alie turned to look, and he would have been greeted by the same sight that Bamboo and the rest had been when they met with Kendar, but alas, he was in a world of darkness. His nose told him that there was a delicacy ahead, and he stumbled his way to where it was.

"Can you not see?" Alie was a rascal, and at this point, he almost rolled his eyes, but he remembered just what a scary situation he was in, so he simply nodded.

"Use your abilities, summon them to your eyes, and behold the world through the elements of fire!" Kendar said gently, almost like a parent guiding a child.

It was noteworthy that most people never really unlocked their abilities or developed because they never had anyone to guide them. It was a simple enough thing to do, just as he had been able to make his hands glow, he could have focused his ability on his eyes, and even without understanding what was happening, he would have been able to see properly.

This was a common problem in underdeveloped civilizations, as the lack of information and exposure limited their experiments and imagination, and they couldn't use their power to the fullest.

When Alie tried to do it, it instantly worked. The world around him lit up, and he could see as well as he had been able to see if the sun was shining brightly. Yet the source of 'light' seemed to be the world itself, and through the light, it gave off, he could see everything around him.

It is noteworthy that ever since Alie woke up, Dane had used the same spell on his consciousness as he had used on Bamboo and his group, the intelligence spell. At the moment, Alie's intelligence was still developing, and part of the food he had been served was meant to hasten the intelligence development process and minimize any side effects.

In fact, given that Alie was still a kid, he was the perfect target for the spell, and hence his development wouldn't be hampered in any way. Meanwhile, the small lavel was busy eating away the meal served before him. He at and drank to his fill and a very satisfied lavel turned to Kendar, with eyes beaming with expectation and hope.

"Will you teach me to use my abilities?" He asked.

"All that is left to the great dragon, should he accept you, you will have access to all the knowledge and power the great dragon bestows upon you, but should you fail his test, then you shall be cast out and rejected!"

Saying so, they both turned to the direction of the dragon reverently and awaited its judgment.