The whirling black clouds parted and a terrifying figure emerged from within.
Gai and Marco felt their brains buzzing and their mind seemed to be hurled into confusion just by staring at the humongous being.
The first thing that caught their eyes were the four massive light grey tails that arched over the figure pointing towards the center, two on each side.
Next, they saw the countless bolts of lightning that sparked around the air like excited snakes in a black meadow threatening to end their lives with but a wrong turn.
The next thing was the eyes.
The cold-blooded pale yellow eyes of the grey furred canine. A wolf beastman that was large beyond proportions was trudging through the clouds like it was his backyard.
His bare well toned upper body seemed to ripple with lightning and the sound of his heart beat resonated like thunder in their ears.
For just that moment, Gai and Marco forgot they were in a game and fear flooded through their bodies like water from a broken dam.
'What the hell is this!!!??'
They couldn't even run as it felt like their brains got fried just from sensing his presence.
All of a sudden, they felt a wave of energy flowing through their bodies and they released the breath they hadn't realized they were holding.
The old goat beastman huffed out a small breath after seeing them recover before turning his attention back to their aggressor.
The massive figure of the wolf beastman he once regarded as a student stared down at him as he stopped moving.
Black clouds swirled around his huge paws as he stepped firmly on them.
'This power….' The old master squinted his eyes.
"What forbidden power are you trying to use, just to fight me?"
The huge beastman let out a wolfish smile and he raised his large palms up and stared at them.
"You mean this? Jhi! He! He! This feels great!"
He clenched his fists hard and a loud sound of thunder boomed out as crackles of lightning flowed around.
At that moment, a group of black robed disciples of the sect came into the courtyard through the door. They consisted of two middle-aged goat beastmen who looked identical, an old bald dwarf with half closed eyes, a female cat beastman with ginger fur and a lithe body, and a young wolf beastman with sharp eyes.
They rushed forward and stood in front of the old master with determination shining in their eyes.
"You damn bastard you dare to come back here again after all you did!"
One of the goat beastmen yelled out and all the hair on his body seemed to stand on end as power rippled out of him.
The others also took on fighting stances and power rippled out of their bodies distorting the air as they merged.
Only the wolf beastman stood looking silently with a quiet gaze.
The old master looked at his disciples. These were the elders and core disciples of his cloud monk sect, the backbone of the sect.
"Today, we shall wipe away the shame that you are to our sect master."
The deep grim voice of the bald dwarf echoed out and his eyes suddenly opened fully. The energy he emitted drastically increased and the rest followed his lead, this time the wolf beastman joined them.
"You stuck up bastard, I never liked you Godan! Come! I will play with you fellows for a while!"
The large wolf beastman howled as he suddenly smashed one of his humongous palms downward with mind breaking speed.
Gai and Marco had already retreated to the far ends of the courtyard and were staring in terror. The only thing that made them not run down the stairs was the fact that they weren't sure if everywhere else was safe, at least the master was here.
This was fear on a primal level!
The five disciples yelled out battle cries as they all simultaneously thrusted out their palms also.
Large projections of their palms suddenly formed in front of the attack and continuously expanded. The five large palms formed with a white energy that looked like clouds met the wolf beastman's palm in midair and a resounding boom echoed out.
BOOM!!!
The huge mountain shook violently from the backlash of the attacks before a flash of light enveloped its body. Several inscriptions and diagrams appeared all over the mountain body and the layer of light solidified around it.
"Away from the sect grounds!" one of the goat beastmen yelled as he waved his hand.
A black gemmed ring on his right hand flashed and two lumps of clouds appeared in front of him. With a wave of his hand, one of them flew towards the female cat and she jumped on it without hesitation.
The second goat beastman and the bald dwarf called Godan also waved their hands. Two also appeared before the second goat beastman and he quickly sent one to the young wolf.
Godan mounted his cloud and with a floating motion, the seemingly solid clouds rushed through the air with an amazing speed as the disciples charged their terrifying foe.
Soon, loud explosions and strong waves of power swept through the skies and towards the heavens as they battled while slowly pushing their enemy away from the mountain.
There were constant flashes of lightning streaking through the clouds and the howls of the giant wolf beastman echoed as he fought back
The old sect master just stood in his position without moving all the while and his face seemed to take on a painful expression as he seemed to peer through the clouds towards the battle.
The old man in blue robes who was standing behind with the two boys also stared at the retreating battle with a meaningful gaze.
"Old friend, it seems you were right. Things are already in motion."
The old master smiled wryly as he looked back at his long time friend.
"I can't be smug about it. Things have truly taken an unfortunate turn."
He turned to look at the two boys who were petrified. Even Gai's scowling face seemed to be frozen in shock as the course of events ran through his brain.
As if sensing the master's gaze, his eyes hardened and he stared back at him.
The master nodded inwardly as he looked at the boy. He knew about the boy's frightening growth in regards to perception and was sure that he felt the suppression of his former disciple's power more than his swordsman friend.
For him to be able to break out of the suffocating feeling this early, showed he had a strong will of his own.
Breaking through the suppression of a being whose level of existence was higher than yours was a sign of good talent!
He motioned to Gai to come over and he did so without hesitation. Though his eyes seemed to display a bit of worry when he saw the distant flashes of lightning and the worn face of the sect master.
The old man waved his hands and a small wooden box appeared, taken out of an inter spatial ring.
He gave it to Gai with a chuckle.
"I wanted to give you an inter spatial ring but then I remembered you summoned come with those things on you."
Gai accepted the box solemnly with two hands.
"I want you to do me a favor"
The master rubbed his long white beard with his free hand while tapping the floor with his short stick.
"A disciple of the abbey of free lightning was supposed to arrive here in a few weeks and collect this box, that probably can't happen now."
He muttered the last part under his breath.
"The abbey?" the old man with the blue robes echoed his words.
"That crazy old bat asked me for a favor I couldn't deny." The master said but didn't give any more explanation.
"I want you to help me find this disciple and deliver the box. And if you don't, then I would have to ask you to travel to sea, find the island of the abbey of free lightning and deliver the box to them personally."
The master looked grave as he pointed at the simple looking box that seemed to have no obvious opening.
Gai looked at the box solemnly and nodded.
A quest prompt had appeared in front of him and he had accepted. He didn't need any persuasion, just for all the master had done for him these past few days, he was already far stronger than his level and not just by a little.
He had no qualms doing the master a favor as he felt he had to pay back his help and promptly put the box into his inventory.
BOOM!!!!
A loud sound came from just beside them as a figure was smashed into the courtyard. Although the collision was loud, there was no visible damage to the floor and the figure stood up panting heavily.
It was the wolf beastman with sharp eyes.
The master looked at him with gentle eyes before calling him over as he tried to mount the floating cloud that came chasing after him.
"Little Jo, come here"
The wolfman stopped his advance and attended to the master obediently.
The master patted his head with a gentle gaze on his face.
"I know how you must feel fighting him, although I do not know your true intentions. But you must have realized by now, he is far above your level."
The wolf beastmen looked towards the battle before silently nodding his head.
"Please heed my words one last time. I want you to follow these summoned, and protect them while they carry out a mission I have entrusted them with."
Little Jo looked at the master with complicated eyes before nodding once more.
"You have always been the obedient one." the master chuckled.
He took off the inter spatial ring that he wore on his finger and placed it in Little Jo's palms.
"Never forget the sect, no matter what happens. I have no idea what would happen here now, but I want you to promise me that you would come back here one day."
Little Jo's eyes widened when he realized the master's intentions with those words and he seemed to be searching his face for any indication that he might be wrong
"Promise me." The master stared him right in the eyes.
"I promise"
He finally replied. His voice was hoarse and heavy and he seemed to be fighting down his emotions.
At that moment, sounds of things flying through the air could be heard and another loud boom sounded out as something smashed into the courtyard floor.
This time, it was the cat girl.
She coughed up blood which stained her black robes and her body spasmed as lightning coursed through it viciously.
"Linli."
The master extended his short stick and tapped her forehead, a moment later, the lightning dissipated and she stabilized.
Just as she stood up from the floor, other figures came bursting through the clouds with bursts of energy flying around as they exchanged one terrifying attack with the other against the giant wolfman.
The master bent towards Linli and whispered some words into her ears.
She first stood up in shock, her vertical irises widening before she calmed down. She then clasped her fists and bowed low to the master.
The master turned to the old man standing behind Gai and Marco and smiled, he then climbed onto the cat girl's floating cloud.
"It has been a while I got on one of these. I am really getting old" he chuckled slowly to himself.
The old man with blue robes chuckled also as he looked at the back of his old friend floating into the air.
"Don't die yet friend, we could still do with you for a few more years." He muttered in a low voice.
"I am not intending to die yet!" the master called almost immediately as if he heard his words.
The old man chuckled before turning his attention to the two summoned before him, Gai in particular.
He pointed at the huge wolf that was covered in lightning from head to toe.
"Do you see this? This is the kind of people that you would be facing on your path. And there are more foes that would be even more terrifying than this. Do you still have confidence?"
He looked at him with searching eyes.
Gai clenched his fists and looked at them as a dim but powerful energy erupted in the form of a white light. He looked at the giant wolf and then looked back at the old man.
"Let's go." His reply was simple.
The old man nodded his head and lead the way.
Gai and Marco followed, with Little Lu and the Linli after they shared an understanding nod.
The group quickly passed through the crisscrossing hallways filled with terrified retreating disciples and reached the bottom of the mountain.
The sky was filled with storm clouds as far as the eye could see and the countless flashes of lightning gave out an ominous and suppressive feeling.
The old man squinted his eyes as he stared out the clouds before moving again. This time, through the plains and towards the nearby woods.
They rest of the group followed him without hesitation.
AGHHHHH!!!!!
A loud roar suddenly came from the obscured mountain top and heavy rainfall immediately followed without any warning.
Little Jo and Linli turned their heads to look at the mountain with a bit of reluctance and hesitation on their faces.
"You kids can't even respect your master's wishes? I am sure that old idiot didn't raise unfilial students. Instead of wishing you can help that old idiot why don't you help this old idiot instead? I don't think my body can take much of the cold from this storm."
The old man's voice snapped them back.
They reluctantly tore their gazes away from the mountain and with a wave of their hands, a film of energy seemed to appear between the group and the sky effectively blocking off the downpour.
"Thank you very much." he turned to smile at them as he kept his pace.
"Now let's hurry and escape while this storm persists, there might still be enemies lurking around"
At this statement, Little Jo and Linli started looking around carefully as they walked as if hoping to find an enemy they could vent their frustrations on.
The old man just chuckled as he stared at his palm.
A clear black tattoo of seven outward pointing triangles arranged in a circular pattern with a ball in the middle appeared and blinked with light once.
------------------------------------------------------------
The group of travelers had just reached a hanging outcrop surrounded by huge rocks when the rain hit. Trying to be creative, Rastel set up a bunch of earth walls to form a wall to block out the rain from the sides.
The settlers brought out large waterproof tarps and draped them over the earth walls and the outcrop to form a ceiling and the cart was put up at the entrance they created.
Everyone including the horse cuddled around a large fire that was created to ward off the chill and some of the women cooked a large pot of soup and shared it around which everyone sipped gratefully.
Rastel and Roxanne were sitting together and they chattered incessantly while sipping the hot soup.
Roxanne had put on a large leather coat cover her body and even Rastel had put on his mage's robe to help warm him up a little.
"Does the weather really freak out this much?" he asked still bewildered as he navigated his bowl of soup.
"You haven't seen anything yet! I am telling you I have witnessed it raining stones before. Stones!" Roxanne blew on her bowl as she muttered with a helpless tone.
"Damn!" Rastel exclaimed and looked up at her.
When he saw she was serious, he just quietly sipped his soup and relished the warm feeling going down his throat.
'They probably didn't pay attention to global warming or something.'
He nodded at his own explanation.