Chapter 27 - A Tale of 2 Stones (1)

Lightning was striking everywhere in the Rando Woods. Stones of all sizes were also raining down on the Forest several kilometres from the periphery of the Sabretooth Gorilla attack. The ground was shaking and it seemed that if this continued any longer, a quarter of the forest would disappear from the face of the continent.

Nerun, mounted on Whitey, bolted from where they stood towards the exit of the forest towards Radem. They were scared out of their wits, because for a few metres lightning and stones fell in the vicinity of where they were, and they were nearly killed on several occasions. Thanks to EON, however, Nerun and Whitey knew the Forest and were able to get out of most of the dangerous situations they encountered.

As they were about to leave the radius of the damage zone, several igneous boulders suddenly erupted from the centre of the combat zone, flying in all directions. One of the larger boulders fell a mere 100 metres from where Nerun and Whitey were standing, and when the boulders hit the ground, they gave off halos of radiant light that could be seen for miles around.

Nerun did not know what those falling rocks were. But he did know that whatever it was that the Snake and the Gorilla were fighting over must be something markedly good to let slip away. As the saying goes, birds die for food and men die for money. In this case for treasure. So, without losing any of his momentum, he told Whitey to head at top speed for the spot where the rock had fallen.

When they arrived, it seems they were lucky, as there were no other beasts in the vicinity. There was a crater tens of metres in diameter, and there were veins of fire on the crater walls. Inside the crater was a glowing stone of dark golden colour, with jagged edges. Whitey looked at Nerun and nodding his head, jumped between the veins of fire with great agility and skill. When they reached the edge of the golden-coloured stone, Nerun tried to approach the "stone", but the heat it emanated was impossible for him to bear. Touching the back of Whitey's head, the latter inflated his thorax and exhaled an icy wind towards the stone, whereupon there was a rapid drop in temperature near the stone. This was one of Whitey's innate abilities. Being a descendant of the Blizzard Wolf, he had a strong preference for ice and wind abilities.

Before long, the temperature would have dropped enough for them to take it, however, Nerun noticed that several beasts were approaching to see what was in the crater, among them multiple rank 2 beasts, and in the distance, there was even a rank 3 one, a Giant Rocky Armadillo, which was roaring to take whatever was in the crater. Nerun wasted no time and extended his left hand towards the stone. Between the cold of Whitey's breath and the heat of the stone, Nerun's hand began to suffer greatly, and all the skin on his palm suffered second and third-degree burns. Nerun did not complain, however, but gripping the stone tightly, he mounted Whitey again and they fled at full speed from the Crater in the opposite direction of the Rank 3 Beast. The light that had previously been emanating from the "stone" disappeared as soon as Nerun picked it up.

Although Nerun's hand was in great pain, he did not let go of the stone but placed it against his body to hide it from the sight of the beasts so that they would not know what he had picked up. Fortunately, the stone quickly stopped giving off the heat it had previously shown, otherwise, Nerun would have had to drop the stone or else he might have lost his entire hand.

When they emerged from the crater there were two rank 2 beasts in front of them, staring at them with eyes full of greed and malice. One of the Magical Beasts was a Fire Liger, and the other was one very familiar to Nerun, a Shadow Macaque. Nerun did not wait for the beasts to approach, but immediately used all the Mana accumulated in his mental palace, directing it towards his ocular meridians, and a golden halo quickly spread beyond his pupils.

"Καλειδοσκόπιο" - /Kaleidoskópio/

The two beasts lost sight of Whitey and Nerun for a few seconds. The range of the beasts was too high for Nerun, but unlike when he fought Roger, Nerun had opened his mind palace, so he had more accumulated Mana. Besides, he used it all up without having any reserves left, so while it wouldn't incapacitate the beasts for long, it wasn't much time they needed. Whitey, neither short nor lazy, leapt towards the Fire Liger, jumping straight for its jugular and attacking it with ferocity, mortally wounding it, in the time it was staring blankly and its defences were at a minimum.

Once they were down, they shot off at top speed. The Shadow Macaque regained consciousness, but it was too late. Whitey and Nerun were already many metres away, and the Shadow Macaque was much slower than Whitey fleeing at top speed. He tried to attack them from the shadows but to no avail. Nerun and Whitey managed to escape before any other Magical Beast was the wiser.

When they reached the edge of the forest, Nerun climbed down from Whitey's back. Then he stared at him and couldn't help but smile and hug his wolf friend, because together they had got some profit from this adventure and their bond grew stronger. They even got a bit of what fell from Mount Karol's peak. Whitey was excited too, not only because of that, but because he managed to kill a beast of rank 2, way above his level. The primordial blood that appears when a Magical Beast is killed is one of the best tonics for growing beasts and is twice as effective on the beast that kills it. Without Nerun, Whitey knew that he would never have been able to take down the Fire Liger, at least with such ease and without injury. He felt that thanks to this feat, he himself would soon rise in Rank. When Nerun then wanted to split the rock with him, he refused. Whitey knew that Nerun risked his own hand to take the rock, and apart from that he had already gained, from his point of view, ample reward for his efforts. Nerun finally kept the stone and engraved this favour in his heart.

Nerun finally emerged from the forest and ran towards the orphanage. Elijah and Maikal had gone out to the centre of town to talk to Mayor Minas, as soon as the rumble of the Forest was felt. They had to be prepared for any eventuality. When Maya saw Nerun, who was dirtier than usual, with mud up to his hair, she was going to ask him what he was doing, but suddenly she saw his hand, badly burned, and before Nerun could say anything, Maya grabbed his hand and asked him in deep concern, "What happened to you? Are you all right? How did you do this? Nerun, you can't expose yourself like this".

The sincere concern in Maya's voice was palpable, and Nerun couldn't help but feel his heartstrings being pulled taut. He knew that although he was an orphan, he was much luckier than other abandoned children on the continent. He had people who truly cared about him.

Maya wasted no time, and before Nerun could explain anything, she immediately went to the storage room in the courtyard and went to the deepest region. Here, hidden, was a wooden box, with an intricate lock. The box appeared to be normal, but when Nerun stared at it, he noticed that there were runes and symbols carved into the edges of the box. This was a Magic Safe, one of the continent's favourite gadgets, and usually reserved for the wealthiest families. This box, a secret known only to Maya, Elijah and Maikal, was the only thing left to Maikal from his old family. Maya touched the box at different points, and it magically opened. Inside were several jade bottles and boxes, as well as some loose notes and even International Mint Cards. Maya chose a bottle, and opening it, took a glowing red paste, which she smeared on Nerun's hand. Nerun felt his burns rapidly recovering, and within minutes, his hand was as good as new, with no associated scarring.

By this time, Maikal and Elijah had returned from the village centre and saw Nerun with Maya. Maikal looked into the storeroom and noticed that the box had been opened, but he didn't ask any questions, but instead signalled to Maya and they all went to the private training area.

When they arrived in the area Elijah began the conversation: "Something happened in the Rando Woods. It looks like the epicentre of a huge explosion, several kilometres of the Forest on the border between Rhodnius and Ansem were completely obliterated and there are witnesses in the surrounding area that a shower of igneous rocks was ejected in all directions. No one knows what may have happened, or what is in the rocks, but many suspect that a possible treasure may have risen from the depths."

Maikal continued, "I hope it is not too important a treasure, otherwise, there is likely to be great strife on the Frontier. The loss of life if powerful Warriors above level 50 start fighting will be catastrophic. Ansem's situation is precarious, and this could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. But I suppose, you Nerun have something to tell us," he said, as he looked at Nerun's newly healed hand.

Nerun nodded and held nothing back from his father and brothers. He told them how he had gone with Whitey to the forest to train the First Form of the Free Flowing Fist, and how the weather suddenly changed, and he noticed the fight at the top of Mount Karol between the Electric Snake and the Giant Gorilla. Maya and Elijah were amazed at the description of the fight given by Nerun, and even more so when Nerun told them that he had a moment of enlightenment during the fight that allowed him to have a small success in the First Form. Elijah was about to congratulate Nerun when Maikal stopped him so that Nerun could continue the story. He told them how the Gorilla finally used all his power to attack Mount Karol and cause the explosion that levelled the Forest, as well as the Gorilla's last words.

When Maikal heard the words "Fruit of the Mountain God", his hair stood on end. Maikal recognised the two contending beasts given his vast experience. It was far worse than he expected. If indeed the strongest warriors on the continent learned of what had appeared in the Forest, a bloodbath on the border of Ansem would be the least of their concerns.

There was a bit of luck involved, however. On the one hand, the fight was deep in the Forest, and apart from Nerun who was nearby, it was possible that no one else had heard the Sabretooth Gorilla speak of the fruit. While he could not entirely rule out the possibility, it was unlikely that anyone would approach the home of beasts of rank 6 and above, at least on the periphery of Ansem. On the other hand, the igneous rocks that shot out fell many kilometres away and may have been lost on the earth. These rocks could contain the remains of the mountain, but it cannot be ruled out that some of them contained the Fruit of the Mountain God. But this one is so rare that you can probably count on the fingers of one hand the people who can easily recognise it in the Frontier. It is possible that both Rhodnius and Ansem will send someone to investigate, but by then, there may be no trace of the fruit left, for if it is not picked quickly, it will assimilate into the environment. This process usually took no more than two weeks. Afterwards, it would matter no more.

Maikal patted Nerun's head while looking dotingly at him recounting the whole experience: "As long as you're ok". The balm used by Maya cost a fortune, and Maikal hated even using it for himself, but Maikal couldn't care less about the cost when his children's health was involved.

Nerun felt warm inside and finished his story by commenting on how he fled with Whitey from the area, and without keeping anything to himself, he showed them the "stone" he had picked up from the place where the igneous rock had fallen. Nerun knew that it was possibly priceless. But for Nerun the most important thing was his brothers and his father. They had given him everything he owned and Nerun wanted to have something to pay them back. Maikal's eyes widened when he saw the "stone" in Nerun's hands.

It was a jagged-edged, asymmetrical-looking stone of a dark golden colour. It looked like metal but was quite malleable to the touch and if one looked closely there were tiny microscopic natural runes between the lines of it. This was precisely a small fragment of about a tenth of a Fruit of the Mountain God.