Gora:
I woke up to a panther sniffing all over my body. The sound of the Shadow huffing around woke me up. I was irate but decided to let the boy slide out of respect for Titan. That is until the boy started sniffing up my legs.
"Move, pervert!" I said, slapping the panther hard enough to send a message. But it wasn't hard enough to cause any severe damage. Shadow growled in anger and even raised his paw to strike me back. I didn't need to move to stop him, so I just lay there waiting for the right moment.
"Little Shadow!" Shade exclaimed. The layer five panthers stopped dead in his track. I cancelled the black hand that had been forming behind my attacker without their knowledge.
"She started it!" Shadow replied, running towards his mother. I ignored the par as I sat up. I quickly spotted a sleeping Titan all rolled up. The massive beast was easy to find. I decided to let the Titan rest. He had used a lot of Ki in our battle. I also haven't recovered fully, so I was in no rush.
Grrr.
( I guess it's time to eat.) I thought as I sat up. I summoned some cooked deer. As I munched on my meal, I heard footsteps coming closer to me. I could tell it was Shade.
"I'm sorry for striking your son, but I do not like being woking up in such a way," I said, mouth full of food. Shade said nothing as she walked next to me. I could see Shadow running off in frustration. He was mumbling something, but I couldn't hear him. I don't know what his mother said to him to get him so riled up. ( Serves him right!) I thought as I continued my meal. Shade was quiet for a long while before she finally spoke.
"He deserves a good slap here and there. I'm afraid I've spoiled him too much. But we'll talk about him later. I hear that apologies are in order." Shade said, bowing her head.
"It's fine. No one was seriously hurt, so we can just call it even," I said. Shadow didn't need to apologize. I should have known better. Beasts don't really talk unless forced to.
"No, I must apologize, and I have to thank you. I'm no fool. I know now that you could have killed my son easily if you wanted to. And although it shames me to say this." Shade said before pausing. I could feel her eyes burning a hole in my head. So I looked up to see the black eyes of the panther. She didn't say a word for what felt like an hour. She just stood there staring at me.
"You could have killed me too." Shade finally spoke after pausing for so long. I know it took a lot for her to admit it. She was a layer six alpha. To lose to someone that looks like me was humiliating for a beast of Shades calibre. But the truth was that if I had used my black blades on her. Shade probably wouldn't be here right now. I couldn't match her in terms of speed, but the layer six panthers stood no chance against me in terms of endurance.
"Don't sell yourself short you were a formidable opponent. I doubt I could have won easily. But let's forget all that. Now we can be allies, and allies don't fight." I said. Although Titan and I would be leaving soon, I could didn't mean I could give up on this territory. It would be great to get Shade and Shadow to hold down things here. That would give me more eyes in this forest. Titan had taught me that this place is full of surprises. I mean, who would have thought a colossal like Titan existed in these woods.
"Allies, huh? I could do that. Allies do favours for each other, don't they?" Shade said with what I assumed was a smile. (What is she planning?) I thought suspiciously. I didn't like how she framed her question, but I really couldn't afford to say no. Titan would be a huge help, but my brothers had literal armies behind them. So, I needed all the allies I could muster.
"That's right, allies look out for each other," I said with a mischievous grin. ( A favor for a favor.) I thought. My plan was coming together nicely. I was also happy with how quickly things were moving. I had initially planned to be gone for a few months. But now, I could go back early and start the second phase. I miss my group of guardians already. I even missed Warr.
"Oh damn it! I almost forgot again! Hey, old man, wake up! We gotta get moving!" I shouted at the sleeping serpent. I had to get back before Warr caused any trouble. Titan was too happy about being woken up. Especially when I explained my reasoning.
"You idiot! You can contact a guardian from anywhere. We share a soul, now human or demon, whatever you are." Titan explained before going back to sleep. He complained about needing his rest. (I guess our fight took a lot out of him.) I thought as I sat back down. What Titan told me was something new to me. I didn't know I could communicate with my Guardian using my soul core.
I focused on my core, seeing that I now had four small souls swimming around. I thought about Frons, and one of the tiny orbs stopped circulating. I focus on that one, and a thread size strand of Ki connect to the small green orbs that I assumed was a piece of Frons soul. I felt a rush of emotions enter my mind. fatigue, determination, focus. (What is she doing?) I thought.
"Frons?" I said, hoping my message got through. I waited for a moment, but no reply came back. I felt confusion coming from the green orb. My guess was she was surprised to hear me. I decided to explain to her how to communicate with me. It took a few minutes, but I finally got a response.
"Master? Is that you?" Frons asked. I was so happy to find out it worked. That I started to jump up and down. (This will definitely come in handy in the future.) I thought as I rubbed my hands together. I quickly caught up with Frons and filled her in on what happened with Warr. After explaining everything, I was hit with a wave of angry emotions. Frons was fuming at the cowardly actions of Warr.
"That ungrateful cat. I'll see to it that she's punished, master." Frons said. I had to calm the beast down. She was so mad. I told the spider monkey that I already had a plan for the tiger and that she didn't have to worry. I could still feel the anger radiating from her soul. (At least she is loyal) I thought. I spoke to her for an hour when I decided to fill in Canis.
His soul was Orange with a black swirl in it. The emotions coming from his soul was happy, with a bit of killer intent mixed in. Frons told me the hound was out hunting, so his feelings weren't that confusing to me. I decided to let the Jackel be. I chose to examine Warr's soul just to be sure. I didn't want to alert the tiger just yet so, I was careful to not tip her off.
Warr's soul was a transparent color, and all I felt coming from her was panic and fear. ( What a scary cat.) I thought, giggling at the beast. I couldn't wait to implement my revenge.
The last soul I examined was Titans. It was a bright yellow orb. I felt how tired and weak the serpent was. I felt bad for the giant snake. He must have been filling this way for years. I couldn't imagine being tired every day for years. (The snake is fighting to live even now.) I thought, feeling pity for the once great beast.
I open my eyes to look at Titan. He was still curled up, sleeping soundly. I also noticed that neither Shade nor Shadow was around. I got to my feet and strolled over to Titan placing my hand on his cold white scales. I felt that his Ki had gotten extremely low. He now had the same amount of mana a typical layer two beast would have. The worst part was that Titan Ki was getting smaller by the second.
(If he was going to leave with me, he would need a little charge.) I thought as I sat down, placing my back up against the snake. I had already recovered much of my Ki, but It wasn't full.
Overnight I had regained enough ki for a layer six awoken. But that wasn't normal for someone at my layer. I began channelling my mana into the Titan, quickly matching his Ki flow. To transfer ki to another being, you had to follow the flow of that person perfectly, or you would just be wasting a lot of your own Ki. Titan's core started to drain my energy-hungrily. It was like I was giving water to a man who'd been trapped in the desert for days. Titan shifted a little, but he stopped after only a second.
"Thank you." That was all the snake said before going back to sleep. I just grunted in response. I needed to concentrate, Titans Ki flow was very tricky, and one false move and I would just be wasting mana. I couldn't afford to miss a single drop if I wanted to help Titan quickly. Fixing a core took a long time and could result in the person losing a layer. I needed Titan as strong as possible. So, I continued to supply Ki to the serpent long into the night.
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The next day we were on the move. I was lying on top of Titan while Shade and a group of beasts followed. Apparently, she had done some recruiting the day before. Although I was thankful to get more people for my nation, I could tell that the members she chose were all outcasts. Some of them were even crippled by beast standards. I decided to let them come anyways. Shade had agreed to go too just to see my territory. She also brought her bratty son. Considering we were now allies. I figured it would be a good idea for her to know where I stay.
However, the group of beasts, including Shade, were far behind us. Titan was making a great time. I guest that it would probably take me a few days to reach my camp. Warr had yet to get there, but I could tell she was pretty getting close. (She must be running none stop.) I thought as I stood upon the giant serpent. Titan was clearing the forest with ease. Trees were uprooted as the snake slithered over them. Titan was creating a trail straight to my camp.
"At least it will be easy for the beast behind us to follow," I said as I looked out at the horizon. I could get used to the view from on top of my Guardian. Titan himself seemed to be in a good mood. He was laughing as he pushed himself to go even faster. I figured the beast was happy to have his core mana full for the first time in years. I was delighted for him, and I decided to let him be for the time being, but there was one question I needed to ask.
I waited until he calmed down to ask the beast about the war. I had heard about it from my other Guardians, but they were too young to know the details. Titan, on the other hand, was very old. Old enough to know what really happened. Titan reluctantly agreed to tell me his tale, and for the rest of the journey, I learned about the brutal war that took place years ago.
I learned that Titan was born before the war, and he took part in it. The story goes that before the war. Life was peaceful. The human would come down from the mountain to hunt, but they respect the forest enough not to take it too far. That all changed when the demons came. Titan said the first time the demons came. The demons had no respect for the forest and pillaged and burned territories left and right.
Titan and the other alphas had to fight back to protect their own territory. But many of them were killed off. Soon the humans came down the mountain with their own forces. The humans used the forest and its beast to help fight back the demons. At first, the alphas in the woods tried to work with the humans but were only used as cannon fodder to soften up the demon army. Soon the beast was enslaved by both sides to fight the war.
"How cruel of them." I thought out loud. The beasts were trying to protect their land from demons, humans and their own kind. There was no wonder the beast population had dwindled. But I still didn't know why the war had begun.
"Why did the demons just attack out of nowhere?" I asked. I didn't know what the monsters would gain from attacking this place.
"I don't truly know, but it had to do with the great Hydra. Even some of my own kind decided to participate in the war because of that fact alone." Titan announced.
"Great Hydra!?" I exclaimed. (He couldn't mean who, I think.) I thought.
"Surely you know about the great Hydra. You are half-demon. You must have at least heard tales." Titan said, a little offended at the idea that I didn't know about the Hydra.
"By Hydra, do you mean Mog?" I asked. The tale of the Hydra was as old as time, at least in this world. So, Mog was very famous. Titan halted in his tracks, almost throwing me off his body.
"How dare you disrespect Lady Mog!" Titan said, shaking his head slowly to not throw me off. I couldn't help but burst out into laughter.