Jasper couldn't stay down for long because of the rigorous training he received in his master dojo. In a time where importance was given to developing technology , most of the people viewed martial arts as a waste of time. But his master was an exception maintaining the culture of his ancestors practicing martial arts to the extreme and developing better ones.
He made Jasper fight until he lost all of his stamina and energy unable to fight. Then gave him rest for about 30-45 min before he was woken up with a bucket full of cold water. He was then again made to fight, repeating this cycle till it was time for him to go back home. Jasper performed this as a routine for more than 8 years. This habit had been engraved into his body, mind and soul. He would wake quickly no matter what his body had gone through because it had experienced even worse condition.
Even though Jasper had been one blow close to dying, he woke up a day later. He felt a harsh migraine with the whole body acing and extreme pain, it was so intense that if a common person was to experience then he would go insane due to shock.
Jasper endured the pain managing to reach the Lynx with difficultly and started patting it loving trying to find some comfort in its soft fur. His mind wanders back to the past 5 days, especially Julian's fight.
The incident occurred on the 3rd day of Jasper's journey with Julian. The past two days had gone by fighting beasts with everything he could use, his strength, martial arts , experience.
Jasper sometimes fought an easy enemy dealing with it quickly but other times fought strong beasts barely managing to survive. These opponent beasts were not strong enough to kill him but still he came very close to losing his life in many occasions. Although at that time he was naive enough to think Julian would save him if he was really going to die.
They turned a corner in the Hidden Jungle for a yellow plant to appear in his vision. Recently, after encountering the silver-coloured Ginseng, Jasper had been revisiting his past memories in free time trying to find more information and clues to solve Jennifer's situation. He realized at one glance that the plant was the 'Curing Sunflower.'
Curing Sunflower had the ability to cure anything upon smelling it just once. Jasper again became mesmerized by the appearance of a precious medicinal herb in-front of him. However, this time something in his brain awoke him from his stupor not letting make the same mistake twice. The last time a similar incident occurred, he had survived due to pure luck.
Sure enough, Jasper's caution was proved correct, as the next moment something large loomed above him with its shadow filling him in complete darkness. He looks up and the scene was forever imprinted in his mind.
A crane with regal elegance, its whole body white in colour, a red crown at its head that extended till the back of the neck, an eyepatch on its right eye that resembled a pirate, legs and feathers as black as charcoal, featherless skin below the eye that extended till the wattles of the red covered in small bumps.
The crane was beautifully sculptured but very deadly with the ability to instantly kill Jasper.
" A Red Crown Crane "
As the Red Crown Crane appeared in front of Julian, he had some inwardly emotions and thoughts running through him:
' I couldn't have guessed it!!! Just the type of creature I was looking for. The value of this Red Crown Crane is enough to make this trip worth it.
But the race of Red Crown Crane should have already gone extinct ages ago. It seems this information is false or else they are really extinct, however somehow been preserved inside this isolated area of the Evergreen Jungle.
The creator of the barrier has a very mysterious origins. Its my first time coming across a structure and design such as this. The only reason I could break the barrier was due the overwhelming strength I possess. The magicians of Arcane World who could break it can be counted on fingers. This is after it has experienced uncountable years of wear and tear.
The people of the ancient era must possess strength unfathomable by us- the Modern Age. This changes a lot of my plans. The appearance of Red Crown Crane means this isolated region is hiding a very big secret.
It was a rash decision on my part to come here but then the reason for coming here is too important to care about things like this, the fate of everything I care about lies on it.
Its a paradox, entering has put Arcane World in danger while not entering would also put Arcane World danger, These are perilous times for Arcanians, I have a feeling something bad is about to the Arcane World.
He looks towards Jasper, ' Its either the boy's biggest fortune or misfortune to encounter me just at the entrance of this hidden jungle and for me to take a liking to him. Now, its up to our strength and luck if we will come out of this area alive.
Still I want to drill everything I know to this boy to at least give him a fighting chance here and a massive advantage outside. '
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Jasper restrained himself from going after the Curing Sunflower but a much bigger threat appeared. The aura emitted by the Red Crown Crane terrorize him, he felt the aura which had become tangible, just coming in contact with it immobilized him. All he wanted do at the moment was to find a hole somewhere and bury himself so that he would never have to be scared again.
But at the thought of running, Jasper remembers Julian's previous words to him, ' Are you a coward who runs away or a brave person who faces challenges head on.'
It took all of the will he could muster convincing himself to take a step forward when Julian's hand falls on him, stopping him.
" Wait, this time I am going to battle the beast and your going to sit back and watch. Observe our battle closely and learn as much as you can, the same goes for the Lynx. Both of you have to keep improving or else will be killed by someone stronger. There is no other way, that's the current place you are in."
Jasper turns backwards and looks at Julian, surprised as he offered battling for the first time which also made him realize the seriousness of the situation.
" Are you going to go by yourself or do I have to drag you??!
Jasper didn't need to be told twice and found a place where he was sure not to be caught in the battle, the lynx followed suit.
The conversation may seem to have taken some time but it was actually over before the Red Crowned Crane reached Julian.
The Red Crowned Crane would never wait for its opponent do as it pleased, it had lived too many years and knew all the tricks beast could come up with . The actual fact was its massive body size making it slow. As it moved forward it brought utter darkness to its surroundings which gave enough time for Jasper to hid. After a minute it arrived close to Julian .
Red Crowned Crane could have attacked before but it decided to wait because it wanted to capture Julian's aura with 100% surety. Being able to capture the opponents aura was beneficial for battle since it meant always knowing the accurate location of the opponent.
Julian realized this when the Red Crowned Crane did not attack immediately so instead attacked it with a deadly punch, same as the one he used to shatter the barrier of the Hidden Jungle.
Julian could have done the same, capture the aura of Red Crown Crane, but chose not to because saw an even better oppurtunity he didn't want to miss. He wanted to catch it off-guard without any defense. It was a heavenly chance to deal some serious damage to the humungous beast.
Jasper expected damage or at least cuts on the Red Crowned Crane, but he was shocked to find it completely unscathed.
Such a strong punch had no effect on the Red Crowned Crane and a moment later Julian realized that the its opponent had not even felt the punch.
Red Crowned Crane finally completely captured Julian aura and acted immediately kicking him with strength comparable to a bullet train crashing through a wall., with the power to crush anything. The strike had so much power that it sent him flying.
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