Chereads / God Source / Chapter 23 - Monster

Chapter 23 - Monster

Cato Emberson's Perspective:

The journey to the main village of the Beast Tribe would take roughly three days by carriage and probably six on foot.

I didn't have enough money to repurchase a carriage for my travels towards the Beast Tribe, but, knowing which path to take out of Conterra, I decided I would steal somebody else's.

I left Conterra, watching as the enormous black walls faded behind the horizon, still wanting to test my skills against them at some point.

I needed to get rid of the Beast Tribe's God Sources to have a better chance in the upcoming battle that is going to ensue.

I wasn't sure when I would have to go back to fighting on a full-scale battlefield, but before that happens, the Beast Tribe had to go.

I walked for two days without stopping. I tried to train in hallucinations and only had a couple of successful attempts.

I didn't see any carriages throughout the two days I was walking, but I noticed a large dust cloud heading in my direction on the third day.

Assuming the carriage was in a hurry towards Conterra, I positioned myself in the middle of the road and stopped moving, waiting for the carriage to stop in front of me.

As it came to a halt in front of me, a flash of déjà vu passed through me as the man sitting on the driver's bench opened his mouth to complain.

Before he could speak, I spoke first, "Are you alone on this carriage?"

Uncharacteristically for a Beast Tribe member, he replied quickly, "Uh, no, I've got a buddy sleeping in the back."

I sighed, "Sounds good."

I jumped up, floating over the horses and landing on the driver's bench near the man who had been talking.

Looking over the stunned driver's soldier, I noticed a sleeping figure behind him.

I turned back to the man in front of me—history repeating itself—igniting him in flames and pushing him off the bench.

The crackle of the fire soon drowned out his screams as I made my way into the back of the carriage.

Surprisingly, the man was still sound asleep in the carriage as I abruptly woke him by throwing him onto the ground.

His eyes shot open in shock and darted around, still coated in a blanket of sleep.

I ignited his midsection and turned around to go to the driver's bench, ignoring the confused and terrified screams resounding behind me.

As I turned the carriage around, I passed the two piles of ash, expecting the voice in my head to chime in.

Almost on queue, it appeared, 'Even that one was pretty brutal.'

Even more annoyed this time than when the voice last appeared, I shook the comment out of my head and continued forward.

Now that I had a carriage, my trip to the Beast Tribe would go by much smoother.

I planned on leaving other carriages I saw on my trip alone before I demolished the Beast Tribe.

I wanted to enter the Beast Tribe and immediately start fighting.

I didn't want to deal with the hassle of locating God Sources, and even with the help of beasts, I was confident the Beast Tribe had the weakest fighters.

I imagined I would encounter some well-endowed fighters, but I was confident with the destructive capabilities of the flame that I wasn't going to struggle.

If anything, with this strategy, I'll be able to go all out and possibly simulate an enormous battlefield against much stronger enemies.

I let the reins go loose in my grip and moved my right hand to grab the crystal I hadn't held since the Nature Tribe.

'Goddess, I'm planning on going all out at the Beast Tribe. The other Tribes are gathering troops to face me. I think this will send quite a message.'

A brief moment of silence followed my message as the wind cutting through the open plains brushed past my ears.

'I like that idea, Child. I think the rest of the deities will find your message quite unsettling.'

The Goddess paused briefly, 'Also, upon inspection of your energy lake and Soulflame, I am confident the Beast Tribe will not pose you much trouble. You've already surpassed some of your most powerful ancestors.'

I smiled openly, sitting on the carriage, 'Thank you, Goddess.'

Her voice resounded through my head once more, 'Your swordsmanship also likely surpasses all Beast Tribe members who have practiced the sword. The Beast God is known for his plentiful God Sources, which means you will most likely face more beasts than people in this upcoming battle. However, this time willingly, I repeat myself: The Beast Tribe will not pose you much trouble.'

The Goddess allowed a brief moment before her following statement, 'I look forward to seeing the destruction you cause, Child.'

I smiled again as I let go of the crystal and gripped the reins.

The Goddess' words gave me a sense of confidence as I sped up the horses pulling my carriage.

I debated methods of approach inside my head.

'I could blow down the gate and attack immediately.'

Another side of myself butted in, 'You could sneak in, then start wreaking havoc.'

Quite a large portion of myself felt satisfied with that plan, but I wanted to display my strength by taking the Beast Tribe head-on.

I had another half-day before I arrived and decided to sneak in or blast in, depending on the entrance.

~~~

I arrived at the large wooden gate to the Beast Tribe. Upon sight, I wanted to blast through it and wage a battle that lasted days.

However, as I neared the entrance, I decided I would attempt to sneak in. The only problem was that I didn't have very much to my name.

I couldn't pose as a merchant without anything to sell, so the only thing that came to mind was a broke merchant looking for work in the Beast Tribe.

As I joined the line of three carriages—me being third in line—I waited for it to progress as I readied myself for the possibly rigorous inspection I had to pass.

Once I had come into the front of the line, five guards surrounded the carriage, two on each side, with one talking directly to me.

There were also five wolves; I assumed each paired with a guard, laying near the guardhouse.

The guard next to my bench started talking, "Why are you trying to enter the Beast Tribe, Sir?" He sounded exasperated.

I tried to sound confident in my reply, "I am a traveling merchant, and I would like to find work here in the Beast Tribe."

The guard sighed before looking back at me, "Alright, sounds good to me. We'll just check out the carri—"

One of the guards who had gotten to the back of the carriage cut him off, "Boss. You're going to want to look at this."

The guard speaking to me nodded slightly before heading towards the back of the carriage.

I sat motionlessly. My sword was on my hip, and my cloak with the crystal was also on me. If I needed to, I could destroy everything in my vicinity and run.

The guard who had called the boss back was standing with him inspecting the rear of the vehicle I had hijacked.

The other three guards were now in front of my horses, blocking the entrance.

I cursed internally at what I could have missed when I took over this carriage.

'Maybe that guy sleeping in the back was someone important?'

The boss returned to my left side and looked up at me, "Sir, is there any particular reason you're taking a council badged carriage into the Beast Tribe as a 'broke merchant'?"

"Well, you see—" I started before being cut off by the boss, who raised a flat hand in my direction.

"This carriage also has the badge that was on duty to transport one of our Beast Tamers to Conterra."

Disappointed at my luck, I inspected my surroundings.

'Seems like sneaking in isn't an option anymore, but on the bright side, I did get rid of a God Source.'

I stared down at the guard standing in front of me.

Sighing, I spoke, "I stole and killed the people aboard this carriage. Anything else?" I asked my question with a smile plastered over my face.

The boss immediately took an offensive stance, "Guards!" He yelled.

The wolves shot up from the ground, and all fell into position next to their tamers.

There were five guards in total, one within striking distance and four out of range.

However, they were in the range of a potential fire blast, and without the necessity to conceal my identity, made this encounter simple.

The guard who had notified the boss was still behind the carriage with his wolf. When I felt him and his wolf jump onto the back of the carriage and begin approaching, I extended my right arm straight behind me and engulfed the entire storage area in bright orange flames.

I heard a slight yelp and scream from wolf and guard, respectively, but they were soon ash.

I hadn't taken my attention off of the guards in front of me, and after seeing one of their comrades die, the initial Fire Tribe shock had worn off.

A spear-bearing guard launched an excellent combination at me, sending his wolf first—classic—and then hurtling his spear immediately after his wolf had taken off.

The wolf leaped while the spear arced under it, leaving both targets stacked on top of one another.

The wolf was aiming for my head while the spear was coming to drive into my stomach.

Using a skill that proved ever helpful, I ignited my arm in electricity and drew my blade. I coated it in Soulflame as it curved up across my body.

I split the spear in half, sending the deadly portion flying behind me. My blade passed through the spear with ease, and as I reached the top of my horizontal extension, I flicked my wrist, creating a semicircle in the air and splitting the wolf's head off clean at the neck.

I looked for my next enemy as one guard stood defenseless without a spear or beast.

Quickly realizing no one was going to charge me, I went on the offensive.

I extended my right index finger with my thumb pointed towards the sky in the direction of the guard farthest to the right.

Aiming down my thumb in the silence that followed the first wolf's swift death, I ignited electricity through my arm and out my index finger.

A strong bolt of lightning arced through the air connecting with the guard's chest, causing him to shake violently before launching into a wall and snapping his back.

His wolf watched helplessly as its master lay dead on the floor. Once it turned back to look at me, I had already aimed my arm at it, connecting a bolt of electricity to the wolf's side, lighting it on fire, and turning it to ash in minutes.

The guards, realizing they had to fight me, suddenly turned on the offensive.

The remaining four guards and three wolves charged me simultaneously as I stood up from the driver's bench.

With my sword in my left hand, I connected it with the sword wielder charging me on the left. I pushed him back, sending him rolling through the air, landing where he had initially taken off.

I turned my blade quickly to the left, stabbing it into a fluffy ear, crunching through the skull of a wolf.

Pulling my blade out, I released a blast of flames from my right hand towards my remaining enemies.

'I need to space them out a little, or at least get off this bench.'

I charged my legs with electricity and darted over to the boss of the guards, the swordsman I had pushed back initially.

Landing in front of him, I brought down a flurry of blows that produced cuts and scrapes all over the guard's body.

Seeing an opening as he tried to defend, I feinted to the left before turning the sword in my hand and stabbing it back into his right lung.

Pulling out the blade, I turned around and flicked the blood off towards the rest of the guards.

After seeing their boss bested brutally in his form of battle, the guards' eyes had sunk visibly.

I charged forwards, taking advantage of their broken wills, swiftly cutting down a wolf that had reacted to my movement before stabbing my blade through the throat of the spear-less spear bearer.

Moving towards the last two guards and final wolf, I realized how simple eliminating the Beast Tribe might be.

As I slaughtered the final guards and their beasts, I thought to myself,

'Maybe I should train my swordsmanship and try not to use my fire very much here.'

With smoke billowing up from behind me, the northern entrance to the Beast Tribe stained in blood, I entered the main village, set on destruction.