The tunnel Tunde had taken was lined with distinct yellow runes that pulsed softly, the crystals embedded in the walls pulsing with earth Ethra. Tired but alert, he was grateful to be away from the grand Ethralite, but again, if whatever the Ethralite had thrown him down here to was for its amusement, then Tunde wondered if he hadn’t gone from a bad situation to a worse one.

  He could not do anything but explore the tunnel and its weird inscriptions. The runes all converged upon the circular stone platform he had been on earlier, and now that he thought of it, five distinct Tunde colors had all converged before circling the platform.

  If the current yellow runes were somehow linked to earth Ethra, then Tunde guessed whatever he would meet at its end was related to that element. Ethra sight on, he narrowed his eyes, attempting to prevent the runes that burnt brightly within his sight from blinding him. He moved carefully, hands on the cool walls he reached the end of the tunnel, unsure of what he was staring at.

  It was a wall of glowing earth and rock Ethra, the runes that had been his silent companions converging around the circular entrance where the runes were etched. He paused, shutting off Ethra sight as he carefully moved closer, touching the glowing wall of Ethra. He shivered, the raw potency of the Ethras rousing his fang even as he gathered himself and pushed through the wall.

  It parted just as easily, admitting him into another large cavern, this one though, a stark contrast to what he had seen and been earlier. Dark yellow crystals hung from the ceiling, embedded into the very walls of the cavern. It jutted out of the ground too at different angles, painting a very artistic yet serene environment, however, Tunde’s eyes were in the distance. Again, unsure of just what he was staring at, Tunde took in the sight of the abnormally large figure made of stone that sat right in the middle of the cavern.

  It was made of rock and hardened earth, exuding a firm and stable presence, lines of yellow Ethra adorning his body like tattoos, all converging at the middle of its chest in a single etched rune. Eyes that looked like they wept yellow Ethra, the sockets where its eyes should be blazed to life with yellow light, and the crystals humming to life.

  It raised its head, Tunde’s instincts warning him that he was in the presence of something ancient and powerful. Eyes that seemed to be staring into his soul all the way from where he stood, Tunde felt the entire cavern rumble as the creature spoke.

  “You have defiled the sanctuary of a guardian, state your purpose” it rumbled, its voice exuding raw aura and power that shook Tunde to his bones.

  It spoke of Highlord realm strength, and yet, Tunde didn’t feel the same dread he felt when facing a tier 5 power. There was no doubt that the creature was powerful, but something about it didn’t seem right to him. “I apologize, great stone being” Tunde replied, bowing low, aware of the gaze of the creature on him.

  “But I was thrown down this cavern by a grand Ethralite, I have no idea where I am or what its purpose was, I apologize for my intrusion” he explained.

  “I am the first of five guardians who keep the jade tyrant sealed away within the greater cave” the stone guardian rumbled.

  “You have come here to break the seal, the only way out for you, and now have a choice” it continued.

  The grand Ethralite had been sealed and yet it threw him around like a piece of wood. Tunde shuddered to think of just how powerful the creature was. “Sealed in stone, in water, in fire, in air and lightning. You cannot hope to defeat us, young lord” it continued.

  “And I would not, is there no way else out of this prison, great stone guardian?” Tunde pleaded.

  “No, only we five serve as the way out, and we implore you to do the right thing and stay here, deny the tyrant his freedom,” the Guardian said.

  Tunde stared hesitantly at the being, unsure of his next move but aware of the fact that they were about to devolve into what was rapidly looking to become a one-sided battle. Tunde shook his head, bowing a bit before speaking.

  “Apologies, great being of stone” he started, “but I have people out there counting on me” he replied. The being stood up to its full height, raw elemental earth Ethra pulsing from its form as it spoke, “very well, human” it said before slamming a crystal staff that appeared in its hand on the ground, the force reverberating through the entire room.

  From the very stone, ground rose clumps of glowing yellow crystals and earth, in their dozens, they began shaping themselves into humanoid forms, eyes glowing. Tunde summoned his relic, the weapon manifesting in the form of a hammer, wisps of dark grey Ethra pouring from its form.

  “May you find mercy in the arms of the hegemons,” the guardian said as its minions roared and charged at him with all their fury. They poured towards him like a wave of rolling rocks, their speeds comparable to that of an early lord realm. Tunde shot forward, aware of the overwhelming stone and earth Ethra flowing within the room as he met them in battle.

  The fang swung with all his strength, crashing into a bunch of minions at the same time as it crushed them into the side of the wall. Dodging the swipe of crystal claws that were aiming to gouge deeply into his skin, Tunde flipped backwards, void forge manifesting as spears and firing into the ranks of the creatures.

  He was on the back foot, summoning the shield from his void space a the creatures crashed into it with raw strength. distracting them for a bit, he went on the attack with Joran’s wrath coating his arms, smashing the creatures into clumps of broken rock and earth. Dodging a spear made of earth and stone that would have skewered him cleanly through, he was smashing through the creatures before summoning his dominion technique.

  Void realm stole the Ethra out of the stone projectiles that shot his way but did nothing to reduce the force with which they pierced through its swirling orb defenses. Luckily, force Ethra was one of his affinities and with a deft handling of it, nullified the projectiles, stopping them as they landed harmlessly on his body, Tunde tearing through the creations with ruthless efficiency. All this while, the stone guardian merely watched as Tunde made his way inch by inch closer to him, carving a path of destruction in his wake.

  He tested the creature, sending a forged spear at the guardian who simply slammed his staff on the ground again, his projection technique dissipating. Eyes wide, Tunde halted in his tracks, aware that doing so was asking for the creatures to overwhelm him. Even though, as Ethra sigt tracked the attacks and his body responded instinctually, he scrambled with options left for him.

  Attacking it head-on was still an option, while he may or may not be a match for it, the fact remained that he could take punishing hits and keep on his feet. The guardian of stone was powerful, maybe even Highlord powerful as its aura kept warning, but it was not the first time Tunde would be hitting above his rank.

  With a burst of speed, he exploded towards the guardian, relic transformed into the shape of an axe before aiming at the chest level of the guardian. It saw him coming, and not even Ethra sight saw the speed with which the staff of the guardian slammed into him. Tunde felt everything within his body shake as he nearly blanked out from the hit, slamming right into the crystal wall with such force that he cracked it.

  Crashing to the ground, he coughed blood, feeling his broken bones already healing rapidly, the minions bearing down on him. He was on his feet, swaying slightly but dousing the entirety of his surroundings with explosive void orbs that shattered the minions even as more rose to take their place. The guardian had access to seemingly unlimited Ethra, something Tunde didn’t have and couldn’t hope to match.

  The situation was slowly looking bleak, the odds heftily stacked against him, and while he had a relic that could cut through almost anything, striking a blow against the guardian was looking harder by the second. Tunde alarmingly found himself being pushed backwards, away from the guardian whose unflinching yellow eyes stared at him coldly. Tunde was a blur of swings as he fought to maintain his position, his axe shattering the creatures of stone and crystals as he found himself taking tiny cuts that healed rapidly but were quietly stacking up.

  Unwilling to let go of the position, Tunde found himself doing something the elder had berated him time and time over during his numerous training sessions with him. The axe became a spear in the blink of an eye as Tunde poured essence flame, Ethra, and aura into it before slamming Joran’s wrath into the creatures around himself, giving him a chance and a clear shot at the guardian.

  The spear flew through the air with blinding speed, straight at the guardian who had been expecting it, his hand rising to slap it away. Alana’s fang tore through the rock and stone hand of the guardian, exploding violently as the guardian rocked backwards, crashing to its knees as its minions shattered with an explosion. Tunde was moving, imbued body powering his legs as he took advantage of the creature’s shock and confusion.

  It roared in rage just as Tunde got close to it, Joran’s wrath burned on his hand, aiming for the head of the creature. Its other hand flashed, its fist aiming to crush Tunde in one hit, its attack a second slower than it usually was. He had been expecting it as well, his shield deftly manipulated with aura as it took the brunt of the attack. It caved in with a screech, Tunde finding himself pushed to the side with the brute strength of the guardian who had lost all senses, rampaging towards him.

  He felt the fang manifest back in his hands again as he once more drew from his core, depleting it rapidly as the weapon changed again into a blade, grasped firmly in both hands and cutting in an upward arc. Its Highlord strength and defenses were useless against the fang, Tunde silently admitting for once that he was way over his head if he hoped to take on the creature without the help of the weapon.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  The relic tore through the obviously imbued arm of the guardian, sending Tunde crashing to his very knees as he struggled to drive the weapon deeper into its arm. “What manner of weapon is this?” the guardian asked, “who are you?” it added. Tunde shouted, pushing his Ethra and aura into the attack, the other arm exploding as well even as the runes within the chamber began to blink in and out of existence.

  “Stop! you will unleash a terrible scourge on the world again!” it roared as it stumbled backwards. Both its arms gone, the puzzling effect of his cosmic Ethra preventing the limbs from regenerating, the guardian began to glow brightly, the crystals in the room glowing in tandem with it as well as it began to rise into the air.

  Tunde struggled to his feet, his core nearly depleted as he sent with remnant he had into his body, imbuing himself. The guardian faced him as it spoke, “If I cannot convince you, then this place will be your grave” it said as large rocks tore themselves out of the ground and into the air, floating along the guardian in the air.

  Tunde took a deep breath, stilling his nearly frayed nerves as he stared at it, flicking his blade before shooting towards the creature. The rocks fired at him with pure speed, slamming into the ground as he dodged them within an air’s breath, weaving between the large stones that were all he could see, Ethra sight guiding him. The fang swung around him in an arc, sending a wave of concentrated stellar force Ethra into the air, slicing the rocks he couldn’t hope to dodge.

  With a shout, he jumped, pushing himself off the ground, straight at the guardian as runes manifested around it, swirling with blindingly yellow earth Ethra, forming layers of circular barrier to block him from the creature. He slammed into it with the fang, the first layer shattering before Joran’s wrath crashed into the second barrier, cracking it for a second as another punch shattered it.

  The creature reacted, a lance made of earth and stone Ethra firing at him. The fang crashed into it, the projected attack exploding in a shower of rocks as Tunde was through the third and final barrier, the relic slamming into the chest of the creature as another projected stone arm smashed into Tunde.

  It blasted him at the wall again, Tunde blanking out for a second, only jarring back to life as he crashed into the ground with a painful scream of his body. Blinking, he watched as the stone guardian roared its rage, its form cracking like glass before shattering in an explosion that slammed Tunde again into the ground, the runes and yellow crystals leeched of their power. The fang vanished in a puff of dark grey smoke before reforming back on his hand in its usual tattoo shape.

  Tunde struggled into a sitting position, breathing heavily, the heavy earth and rock Ethra still in the air around him despite the pure darkness that suffused the cavern. Ethra sight revealed the cavern to him just as a burst of green light caught him off guard, raw jade Ethra pushing past the roof of the cavern and away.

  The ringing laughter of the grand Ethralite explained what had happened to Tunde at that moment as he could only watch the power wane before shutting off completely. Tunde got to his feet, coughing as he trudged towards the spot where the shattered remnants of the stone guardian lay, staring at the bright yellow orb staring at him, surrounded by large shards of crystals devoid of any power within them.

  He picked the glowing yellow orb that looked similar to the core of regular creatures, staring at it warily before throwing it into his void ring along with a generous heap of the crystals around him. Staring around him again, he walked towards the now drained runes on the walls, running his hands on them in silence as he contemplated just what he had just done.

  In the pitch-black darkness, he frowned, unsure of what he could do in the bleakness of the situation that settled over him. The grand Ethralite would only grow stronger over time, and Tunde was sure black rock couldn’t face another disaster such as the likes of the Ethralite and whatever it would unleash on them.

  Then again, this far within the wastelands, it could turn its ire on the forces of the king and be summarily wiped from existence. Except it had originally been a master realm monster or sixth sphere of enlightenment as it had described itself. The risk of the grand Ethralite joining forces with the king rather than facing him was too much to consider.

  He made his way out of the tunnel, heading right back the way he came in silence, the consequences of his actions left behind in the dark.

  ****************************

  Heito Blazewing led his forces through the tunnels, heading deeper into the cavern, the Corespawn with the traits of a sandhound at his side. They could all feel the aura in the air, a few of his forces already panicking from the onset. He had ended them ruthlessly and without a second thought, they should have known better than to show weakness next to him.

  The rest had quickly fallen into line, their fear of him superseding any other emotions or doubts they had about just what their goal within the cavern was. Heito found his mind straying back to the moment he had found the body of his sister, fresh from finding the charred form of his father as well, lying in the blowing sands, explosions in the distance.

  He had wanted to rage, to head for the city with its black walls and bring it down, master realm cultivator or not within its walls. The first claw had seized him dispassionately, surrounded by his forces. In the blink of an eye, the bloodline of the Blazewing had come close to being annihilated and Heito being the last of its true beasts with sentience. He had been tasked with hunting down the remnants of the cultivators stuck within the wastelands before the settlement sealed itself off from the forces of the king like trapped prey.

  Heito had gone about it with a cold ruthless rage, letting his forces deal with some for their sordid needs or straight out torturing them, his mind on the next task. It was then the sandhound at his side, one of his stronger Corespawns had notified him of the scent, one with the trail of his sister’s blood and Ethra.

  It could only mean one thing, her killer, the one who had harvested her core like some common beast of the wastelands. He had dropped everything there and then, taking a handful of his forces and heading in the direction the sandhound led them. Their arrival at the cave had been ominous, his senses warning him that he was about to walk into some sort of danger, but Heito’s rage surpassed any feelings of doubt.

  The jade crystals doting the walls as well as the broken forms of creatures made out of the same crystals littered the tunnels the lower they went, as if some force had invaded the cave itself. It brought up the question of why the cave hadn’t been discovered during their march towards black rock, the idea that some power was within the territory of the king without his knowledge was blasphemy.

  And yet, Heito found himself flaring his wings, his bone axe, a weapon he had torn from the dying arms of one of the numerous barbarian bone cultivators that littered the wastelands like insects. It had served him well, so drenched in his aura and Ethra that it had slowly over time attuned itself to his very concept of fire and wind.

  The tunnel they entered this time, after leaving a room once again filled with nothing but pure destruction. Heito assessed the havoc left in the room as his bone axe blazed to life with his Ethra, his forces at alert despite the raw malevolent presence that seemed to settle on the room as if some otherworldly being was watching them.

  They came out into a large cavern, a large chasm in front of them and being held by what seemed to be burning chains of different colors. Heito’s first realization was the fact that it was a Highlord, despite its aura tightly wrapped around its form, the insectoid creature made of jade crystals was a power unto itself.

  The second thing he realized was the stupidity of his forces who launched techniques at the creature as his eyes widened, “fools!” he screamed at them before watching them summarily be turned into pastes of blood and gore on the ground by a large slab of jade crystal that crushed them.

  Immediately dropping to his knees, he faced the ground, not daring to look at the creature despite the chains binding it. it laughed in a screeching voice that grated on his very soul, “interesting!, a living, thinking true beast!” it said, “tell me, of whose domain do you hail from and why shouldn’t I kill you?” it asked.

  Its mere voice exuded power, so much power, that even with it being bound, Heito realized that it gave off the same level of power as the first claw of the king himself. “My name is Heito Blazewing, servant of the wasteland king” Heito started as he felt the creature’s gaze on him.

  “King?” the creature echoed with distaste, “who dares call himself king of the wastelands?” it said. Heito found himself fighting the urge to call the name of the king, the creature’s aura smashing him into the ground with raw power. “I asked you a question, little bird,” the creature asked cheerily.

  “Haruka” Heito uttered with rage in his voice as the creature chuckled, “Haruka? I am unfamiliar with such name. Tell me, does the sun king still hold the north?” it asked.

  Sun king?, Heito groaned, struggling to speak, “I know no such being” he replied hoarsely. The being seemed to chuckle, “I see, much time has passed, the unworthy now rule the lands if one such as you are permitted to advance to the fourth sphere of enlightenment” it replied.

  The aura vanished over Heito as he was on his feet, staring at the creature who spoke again, “You have been somewhat of an interesting pet, now I have to end your existence” it said. “Wait!” Heito screamed as his mind ran through the various options he might have. Running from the creature was pointless, he had seen Highlord realm cultivators move, he wouldn’t last more than a single step if the creature wanted.

  “I believe I can be of help to you,” he said, “oh?” the creature asked curiously, its pincers clacking audibly as if it were excited. “I see you’re chained great one,” Heito said, the latter part of those words leaving a bad taste in his mouth. “Quite observant of you,” the creature said with false sweetness, “however I already have one worm working on it, I don’t need another” it replied.

  Heito froze, “another worm?” he asked, eyes straying to the bloodied and torn forms of his forces as he cursed quietly to himself. With the sandhound dead, there was no way he could confirm if this ‘worm’ was, in fact, the very cultivator he was after. He faced the creature with newfound boldness, “this worm, great one, is it a cultivator?” he asked.

  The creature cocked its head at him, “yes, what does it matter to you?” it asked, “this cultivator killed my sister, let me have him, and I swear on my soul, I will free you of this hell and lead you to the sanctuary of my king” he replied.

  The oath tightened over his heart as the creature peered down at him, about to speak when a burst of power came from the chasm, flooding the form of the creature, it laughed with a loud voice that echoed around the cavern and back down into the chasm. Heito shielded his eyes from the bright power that soaked through and into the body of the creature whose aura and presence swelled more.

  “Ah, that’s more like it!” it crowed triumphantly, turning its gaze to Heito who stood his ground. It seemed to stare at him for a second before effortlessly seizing him with its aura, raising him towards its face before speaking.

  “You amuse me, you will have your chance, but first, you must be of use to me,” it said, as Heito found himself drawn into the chasm, unable to control his aura as a force dragged him down. It was a battle of strength as much as willpower, his wounds out and blazing as he struggled to flap them only to find himself being drawn faster and faster till he crashed into the ground at the bottom of the chasm.

  It was a circular platform with strange shapes etched into it and leading into five tunnels, “you will meet your intended foe down there” the voice of the being above them echoed down into the chasm, “but you will have to work for it, what fun!” it laughed.

  Heito was on his feet, staring at the tunnels before heading off in the direction of one, the being totally forgotten about at that moment.