Flying high above the epicenter, Raza was filled with worry as he could feel the amount of mana coursing through the clouds. Peering down he looked for the catalyst of the bizarre weather.
-Search for the cause. Let no one escape- Raza said telepathically to the elder tribe before speaking to the king.
"As always Furyan, you may observe and give your opinion about the situation, but the final decision is ours."
To which King Halyard nodded in agreement, especially since he was at a disadvantage in this situation. With the area sealed off and Raza and the king watch over in case of traps or sneak attack. The 4 elders started to close the entrapment around all beasts in the area ensuring that none could escaped. While they were approaching them, Raza steadily applying pressure through the release of his aura. This was a skill called [Beastly Aura], that was gained once a beast reached the 5th tier. This skill allowed them to temporarily force lower tier beasts to submit against their will. With the 4 of beasts in the area being of the 3rd tier at most, Raza alone could force their submission.
Though this skill should've made it easier to control the situation, that wasn't the reality. This was due to a harsh side effect of the skill. Which was that prolonged use of this skill could break the will of the target turning them into mindless puppets. Unfortunately, this effect differed based on the tier and intellect stat of the beast. Sorc being at the peak of the 2nd tier and Ny being peak of the 1st tier put a time limit on the use of the skill.
The 4 Elders quickly and thoroughly searched for other as the approached the four, herding them to the center of the area. Once the 4 were together, Raza flew down landing in a clear area designated for him by the other. King Halyard had slightly moved closer to the location to observe while keeping his distance. Even if they were working together towards a common goal, they were still enemies at the end of the day.
Now that he had landed, Raza could finally sense what was causing the disturbance.
'What is capable of hiding something from my sense' Raza thought since he had senses capable of registering half the entire territory.
Seeing the Elder beast focusing on the chrysalis that contained Rapt caused Blum and Orn to try to break free of the aura. This drew Raza's focus to them instantly and without a word being spoken the ground beneath them shifted, bringing them before the mighty flame bird.
Crouching down towards the two beasts," What is that thing and what is it doing to the territory?"
Still, the two tried to strongly resist the influence of the skill, proving to Raza that they knew something and were refusing to give the information. Rearing up to his full size of a massive 6-meters (about 20 ft.) before in a brief fit of rage, he snapped open his 8-meter wings destroying the surrounding trees as the flames that covered his body spiked. The other elders quickly raised defense around themselves and the two smaller beasts since they knew that Raza had a short temper due his race as a Flaming Sky Tyrant.
His race made him more ruthless and tyrannic as a beast since the race of a beast dictated some of their personality traits along with their elements, Fire being a symbol of passion, creativities, and a competitive spirit. Though in the same way the element affected a beast persona, the life experiences of the beast affected their element something that could taint the meaning of the element. This was through the strong emotions that overshadowed the true nature of the element drawing out the darker side of the element. This affected the choices of the Beast's evolutions changes the traits of their element creating an element that is unique to them. One would be able to tell the difference between two beast that shared the same element by the shade of the elements color with a lighter color purer in the terms of the element's traits, while the opposite would mean that the beast's experience had begun to taint the elements traits.
Raza, for instance, had flames that were very pure until one looked at their roots, meaning that Raza had been affect by strong negative emotions before his latest evolution. The only known element that seemed nearly impossible to taint was that lightning element since it was supposedly the perfect blend of its positive and negative traits unlike the others. So, due to his race, Raza would have to combat his negative traits since he was the representative of the beasts of the territory. This was hard since the Tyrant part of his race made him want to dominate those that did not to submit, like Blum and Orn were doing. Making him more volatile than he used to be, having a ferocious undertone to his usually passionate yet calm demeanor.
While all of this was happening, the absorption of mana happening in the sky had been completed leading to a pillar of clouds in the sky, yet it seemed as if the process was not done as the mana in the cloud began to condense. Through the condensation, the purity of the mana was being elevated to a new grade. The grades of mana were dependent on the changes that occurred to it, such as grade 1 being the natural mana released by the planet. The second grade was mana influence by those of the 2nd tier after the mana had been stripped of other elements and conforming to the mana of those in the 2nd tier. As the tiers of beast and other races increased; and brought changes to the mana, the grade of the mana would gradually affect the terrain until it created what were called Mana Zones. These areas were zones that had been completely stripped of other elements creating area that only benefited those of that element.
So, simply put the event that Rapt was causing was supposed to be impossible at his tier. Regardless the mana continued to be purified until reaching a quarter of the way toward grade 2. Once reaching that level of purity, the thunder became fiercer than before. Yet the strangest part was that lightning nor rain had accompanied the rumbling thunder.
Sorc who had remained near the chrysalis, noticed that the trembles continued to run through it. Cracks appeared more frequently as time went on, making Sorc wonder how the Chrysalis was still in one piece. Yet his attention was drawn to the clouds after the thunder intensified as lightning began to accumulate. After 5 seconds passed, a small lightning strike, the size of the human arm, could be seen erupting from the clouds.
Looking at the lightning, Raza and the other upper tier individuals, who could perceive the strike and react to it, prepared to stop the lightning from striking it's intended target, the chrysalis. Unfortunately, when they attempted to throw their skills at the lightning, all the gather mana was disrupted. Instead, they jumped away from the area with their full force, leaving the four beasts there to face the consequences of their actions. They watched as the lightning closed in on the chrysalis, while trying to anticipate the destruction that would be caused. That destruction never came as Rapt shattered the chrysalis.
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Waking up in the chrysalis, I felt different mentally and physically. Not that it mattered as something else had captured my interest. Plastered on the screen in front of me was:
{Survival is a luxury of the strong and suffering is the only reward for the weak. The choice is yours to make. Become strong or die weak.}
After reading the message, I focused on the abundant amount of mana in the sky. I vaguely understood what was it meant by 'surviving the suffering'. In the middle of that thought, my instincts screamed as I sensed a strong surge of mana rocketing towards my direction. Unfurling myself, destroying the chrysalis in the process, just before the lightning crashed down on me. That would have hurt', was my first thought as the first lightning collided with [Discharge].
That's when he noticed that this wasn't like regular lightning as the energy stuck to him continuing to slowly damage his barrier. This stalemate continued to until the energy had dissipated, draining his mana as it repaired itself under the assault. Now having some breathing room, Rapt took the chance to take in his surroundings. Using [mana sense], he could tell that there were 6 powerful being in the area as well as his tribe members. Though he couldn't tell how far those 6 were, he could sense the others. Sorc was the closest at 5 meters away and Blum was further away at the 10-meter mark with Orn and Ny in-between them.
- Everyone move away - Rapt said to them as he had a feeling that this was something he must do alone.
'My mana sense must have gotten stronger' he thought, sensing them move further away to what should have been the edges of his senses. His focus was drawn upwards again as another surge happened. This time Rapt attempted to dodge the lightning, only to be surprised when it stopped just before hitting the ground. Hovering for a split second before streaking towards him and slamming into his side with a slightly stronger force than earlier.
Boom!
A massive discharge of energy knocked him off his feet, sending him crashing into the trees that Raza knocked down as the lightning chasing behind. This happened three more times until the energy dissipated, leaving Rapt with scorch marks, cuts, and bruises. Slowly making his back to his feet, snarling and hissing as another surge happened.
Learning from his mistake, he knew dodging alone wasn't enough and that his barrier wouldn't be as effective as the strikes got stronger. He had no choice but to fight, conjuring 3 balls of lightning and preparing to use [discharge] for defense. Noticing that earlier that his Lightning barrier had prevented the knocked back effect of the lightning proving that his lightning could affect it. If that was the case then his goal was to strike the lightning before it got to him, hoping that it would reduce the energy in the strike.
The game of cat and mouse had now commenced as Rapt, and the lightning danced across the battlefield. Rapt used the terrain created by the fallen trees and uneven land to dodge out of the path of the strike, while using [discharge] to negate the strike he couldn't dodge. Learning from his mistakes along the way, becoming more proficient with his usage of his skills and evasiveness. He was actively searching for ways to avoid the lightning as each hit was quickly followed by an attempt to create a chain of attacks.
This continued until the lightning had completely spent itself, leaving Rapt exhausted and battered. Rapt conjures more lightning which helped Rapt realize that he should have run out of mana a long time ago. Taking a quick inward look at himself using [Mana sense], he noticed that his body seemed to be drawing in the abundant lightning mana with each inhale. What was causing this phenomenon or where was the mana being drawn to was something he didn't know.
'I remember this feeling', he thought as he partially remembered sparse moments before the chrysalis put him to sleep. Pushing those thoughts to the side, he continued to focus on his fight as he could sense that it was far from over. The clouds still had a fair amount of energy in them, containing a little more than 3/4 of its original amount.
What Rapt didn't know was the first strike only contained about 5% of the total mana gathered. This increased gradually with each strike, wearing down Rapt under the assault. The fourth strike had begun, moving quicker than the previous strikes and being stronger as well. Upon colliding with Rapt's barrier, a small discharge of energy was released. This worried Rapt as it showed that the [Discharge] skill was being overwhelmed. He was fighting a losing battle with each exchange weakening him as the lightning steadily grew stronger.
Rapt spent the entire time trying to think of ways to fight back against the lightning, yet it all was useless. As if to make matters worse, he noticed that with each successful strike that the lightning was taking small amounts of his mana.
'[discharge] already isn't strong enough and I'm not sure my speed well be enough with the next strike. To add to my troubles, it's taking my mana.' Rapt thought as despair started to well up. Each hit was accompanied by flashes of the dying dinosaurs from his visions. By the time Rapt had survived the Fourth strike, it had become hard to recognize him as he was covered in mud and blood giving him a dark red hue with most of his feathers and various areas of skin being singed.
Struggling to concentrate and breathe, Rapt tried to prepare himself as best as he could with the 5th surge happening.