Chapter 36 - First Draft

Chapter 36 - LOT

Many miles away, across the Magma Lake, in the depths of the Forinth Stronghold, there was a simple, black room, devoid of decorations. Several glimmering torches lit the room, giving it a shadowed and brooding appearance. Thick, black and red stone pillars supported the roof of the room, towering above.

At the end of this long room, a simple, menacing grey throne stood, planted in the rocky floor.

Upon this throne sat a middle-aged man with a short, grey beard. Two red scars in the shape of an x pattern crossed this man’s face, tracing across each of his vivid red eyes and down his cheeks. He had long, grey hair tied up in a bun, and was frowning fiercely, his eyes wrinkled. An enormous broadsword was planted in the ground, directly next to the throne.

“How many attacks is it now, Morral?” His voice rumbled out, deep and powerful. The air around him shivered as he spoke.

Kneeling before the throne was a balding potbellied old man, wearing a set of simple red robes, adorned with a flower.

“9 caravans have been targeted by creatures of the Void in transit, Empyrean Lord. Further, 12 patrols have been ambushed, and there have been an estimated 830 total casualties thus far. The largest incident within the past thousand years from the Void.” Morrals voice was quiet and calm, speaking of the deaths and attacks as if they were nothing.

The Empyrean Lord of the Magma Clan folded his hands together, a set of red gauntlets on his hands clanking together.

“After all these years, the Void has finally begun to become active again. And, further, they are targeting my Clan? It seems they are aware of our strength, and are trying to reduce it.” His voice was calm, with a silent thunder just barely visible beneath.

Morral stayed kneeling, not responding.

“Alert the Burn Lords of the attacks, and let them know anyone related to the Void is under kill on sight orders. Disobeying means death. Have the Royal Guards on high alert, capturing any suspicious individuals. Also, see if there are any trackers in the city that can sense the effects of the Void and have them brought to me.” His eyes gleamed darkly as gave his orders.

Morral nodded and remained kneeling, memorizing the commands.

“Do you have anything further to report?” The Empyrean Lord of the Magma Clan said, his voice rumbling.

“Yes milord.” The potbellied old man was hesitant as he continued, “The activities of the O’Bald pirates and the ‘Sixth Pirate King’ seemed to have died down, and we’ve lost all traces of them. They aren’t a group to take our capture of the Volcanic Isles without objection, however, especially after the death of one of their Five Ironblood Captains. Their lack of a response has put me ill at ease. I suspect they are planning something, either an attack on one of our bases or some type of interference within the Recruitment Drive.”

The middle-aged man on the throne sighed, rubbing his forehead.

“Everyone wants to fight against us, huh? Those runts certainly are an annoyance, especially their Silverwing leader. Still, it fifty years too early for that man to be calling himself the ‘Sixth Pirate King.’” The Empyrean Lord rested his hand on the massive sword that pierced the ground next to his throne, running his thumb along the side of it.

"How long has it been now, Morral, since I took the Empyrean Throne?"

The potbellied man looked up for a moment, his eyes questioning as he responded,

"47 years, milord."

"47 years, yes. From a humble beginning as a servant boy, nearly 80 years ago. I Awakened at a very young age, a sign of weakness. Ignored by my peers, scorned by others, I trained on my own. Growing stronger, slaving away day after day. The cruelty of others in this world, I am well aware." The man on the throne's voice was somber as he continued,

"Yet I persevered. When I had no hope, no allies, no one to lean on or aid me. Completely alone."

"I persevered."

"Do you know why, Morral?" The man on the throne's voice turned completely calm and gentle as he paused.

"No milord. Why?" Morral responded, shifting on his knees.

"Because I see a bigger picture, Morral. The Magma Clan is my blood, my family, but it's more important than that. We are one of the safeguards of the world. My personal feelings are nothing in light of this." An overwhelming feeling of dignity filled the room as the man on the throne spoke, a shimmering aura of authority and strength blasting out.

"I am the greatest warrior the Magma Clan has ever had. I am the Empyrean Lord. And nothing will stop me. Absolutely nothing."

“As for these pirates... The Magma Clan has stood for thousands of year, while every previous era of Pirate Kings has fallen to the wayside, only known by historians and fanatics.” He shook his head, his voice calming down.

“Have the Meteor Swordmas- no, actually. That old Magma Dragon is still lying around here, right? It’s time we put him to good use.” The Lord smiled.

“Have Lionel meet up with some of your men, and set him on the hunt seeking out the O’Bald pirates.”

"As for the rest, the Recruitment Drive and Clan Tournament will continue as planned." The man on the throne's eyes glinted as he finished speaking, waving for the potbellied old man to leave. A somber silence formed within the chamber after as the man sat, his hands folded, thinking.

..

Desolate, grey ash drifted through the sky, falling down ever so slowly. Each piece of ash was small, no larger than a snowflake, but stained with the soot and haze of the many active volcanoes and deathly heat of the Magma Lands.

Jack trembled as he reached up and wiped his face, feeling fresh blood drip down from several small cuts. His eyes blurred as he tried to focus, his heart pounding. Wyrmblight, his trusty blade, shivered in his hand as a blue light of Spirit surrounded him, enhancing his strength.

Before Jack stood an abomination.

It was the next day of their journey guarding the long caravan towards Idglebar. The first day of the journey had proved mostly uneventful. The front part of the caravan had encountered a small group of Scaled Boars later in the evening, but that was all. Jack had been taken by surprise when he caught sight of the beasts. They were virtually identical to the Scaled Boar he had encountered when testing for his Hunter badge in the past.

Each one stood eight to ten feet tall, with dark red tusks, covered in rippling muscles and scales. The group of seven boars had challenged the caravan at first, defending their territory. They quickly fled, however, after the Hunters towards the front of the caravan attacked back.

There were around 60 Rank A Hunters with the caravan, including Jack, Bale, and Evan, in addition to hundreds of Rank B, Rank C, and Rank D Hunters. The lesser Ranked Hunters usually worked in a team, while the higher ranked either led a team, or moved individually. Jack was unsure of the exact ranking of most of the Rank A Hunters with one exception.

A “bigshot" Rank A Hunter happened to be helping with this escort mission, part of a team of 7 Rank A Hunters. A noble of one of the local kingdoms, the Ire Kingdom, he was ranked within the top 50,000 Rank A Hunters. A tall, blonde haired warrior named Irone Swift. He wielded a pair of long sabers as his main weapons, and dressed in fine and colorful blue and yellow silk robes. After asking around, Jack learned that his Natural Ability was actually a famous, well known one. He had the ability to increase the weight and density of anything he was holding, for as long as he held onto it, and then a few seconds after letting go.

One of the top 100 Rank A Hunters had the same ability as Irone did.

While ranking in the top 50,000 didn’t sound like much, one had to remember there were over 800,000 Rank A Hunters. Any Rank above 100,000 signified a great deal of strength. Above 50,000 signified the upper edge of Rank A Hunters.

Thus, the defense force of the caravan was extremely strong. Unless they ran into an irate Gem Beast, it was unlikely they would be in any danger.

At least, that was what Jack had thought at the time.

Unfortunately, things started to go wrong on the second day of travel.

The day had started off normally enough. All the Hunters had brought their own tents, to protect one from the common Ashfalls as well as the outside weather. Some even had special Spirit Artifacts that cooled the air around them, making the journey more bearable. Jack’s only Spirit Artifact happened to be the Space Sealed storage pouch, as well as the compass Liren had given him. He had poured all his other funds and earnings into purchasing Spirit Crystals to train his Spirit and intelligence reports.

It wasn't that cooling Spirit Artifacts were too expensive. While all Spirit Artifacts were pricey, cooling ones were definitely on the lower end, and were the type that could be produced by current day Artifact Forgers, unlike some older Artifacts like Space Gates. Jack simply didn’t want to waste any of the resources he was given. Besides, he could simply train his Spirit by keeping it always faintly active.

The morning was completely normal. The various Hunters, guards, and warriors packed up their tents, fed and watered the horses, and the caravan started along its lumbering path once more.

It was only when midday was reached that something out of the ordinary happened.

The caravan was attacked.

And not by a group of bandits or raiders, or by a swarm of beasts.

But by a single monster.

Jack had entered into his state of semi-meditation, consolidating his Spirit Pool. He was unable to enter the Third Great Stage of Spirit without a great deal of focus and peace. Attempting to enter in it while actively guarding a caravan would be suicide, thus he could only wait, and get used to the feeling of a full Spirit Pool, overflowing with Spirit Energy.

A jarring shriek, however, had cut through his meditation.

“Attac-arrrgghhh!” The scream cut off into incomprehensible yells halfway through. A miniature explosion rocked the air, cutting through the brief shocked silence that arose.

Jack spun to face the rear of the caravan, where the scream had originated from. He immediately entered his Slowed State, feeling the world around him slow down. Spirit Energy wrapped around him, enhancing his strength. He focused in particular on his eyes, enhancing his vision.

Several hundred meters away, one of the thick stone wagons had been completed destroyed. The horses, or what was left of them, lay on the ground, covered in blood. A small crater marred the path where the wagon had been, dust rising.

In the center of this crater was an abomination.

A creature that was vaguely man shaped, but standing nearly 3 meters in height. It had huge arms that went all the way to the ground, with disproportionately large fists and forearms. Its body was black and grey, covered in twisting, pulsing muscles. Its face was covered by a small, white mask.

The air around this creature twisted, in a nauseating way, giving off a disgusting feeling. A sort of distorted haze.

The moment of silence was broken a second later.

“Click…click…click.” A series of odd clicking noises came out of the distorted creature’s mouth as it jumped into the air.

“At-attack! A powerful attack!”

“Defend the caravan!”

“To the rear!”

The hunters and warriors began to react, those in the front starting to break off to reinforce the back, while those in the back began to form up, charging towards the beast.

Jack watched everything, on high alert as he saw the beast move into the air. Unlike the others, however, he stayed put, his eyes widening.

The distorted figure of the monster had jumped far higher than anyone had expected. In a split second, it had already leapt nearly 130 meters into the air, absurdly high. It had jumped an even farther distance horizontally, moving from standing near the back of the caravan towards the middle of it.

“BOOM!”

The enormous beast crashed down two wagons in front of Jack, obliterating the wagon and horses it landed on. A small shockwave emerged as it slammed its fists into the ground, a small crater forming. The wagons directly in front and behind the now destroyed wagon twisted and fell, turning over. The screams of the horses cut through the air as they were thrown into it wildly.

WHOOSH

Jack twisted and leapt off his horse, wielding Wyrmblight in one smooth motion. He held the sword over his eyes and face, blocking the stone and dirt debris. The blue glow of Spirit surrounded his body, protecting him.

All the guards and Hunters in the vicinity of the now destroyed wagon lay on the ground, either stunned or dead. The occupants of the wagon were nowhere to be seen. There were several Hunters and guards on standby near the wagons in front and behind of the destroyed one, however, and they all began to charge forward.

“It’s in the middle!”

“Try to stun it while we wait for others!”

“Kill it!”

The nearby Hunters began to surround the beast, coordinating. Roughly a dozen of them had unlatched long-ranged crossbows specialized for hunting powerful beasts. One of the group in the center launched a fast moving ice projectile, using their Natural Ability.

Off to his side, Jack saw Bale and Evan each ready their blades, also moving forward in on the creature.

“Everyone back off! It’s a Void Shocker! Anyone below Rank A immediately retreat!” Jack began stepping forward, his mind focused entirely on the creature. His heart began to race as he realized fully what it was.

A beast he recognized. Not because he had ever seen it. But he had read about it, in the archives of the Space Clan.

A Void Shocker. An abomination born from the twisting influence of the Void. It possessed boundless stamina, and the ability to explode with shockwaves from its oversized fists. They were monstrously powerful, deranged creatures that slaughtered everything that came into their path, and notoriously difficult to kill.

This was his first interaction with anything from the Void.

A wash of emotions threatened to overwhelm him. His entire Clan, including his parents, all perished because of a traitor seduced by the Void. Immediately he made the decision to kill the creature of the void, a long dormant anger in his heart raging.

The nearby hunters ignored him as they began pestering the Shocker with arrows. The ice projectile slammed into the chest of the muscle covered monster, encasing its entire chest in a thick layer of ice.

Jack swore and charged forward, watching the creatures movements in slow motion. He motioned for Bale and Evan to fan out to his left and right, behind him. They wouldn’t be able to use most of their Space Natural Ability due to its taboo nature, but they could still help distract the monster.

A couple seconds passed.

“Click…click…click…”

As Jack heard the odd, shivering noise the beast emitted, a fact about the creature rose to prominence in his head.

Right before they unleashed a shockwave, Void Shockers would always give off an odd, tapping or clicking sound.

“Watch ou-“

BOOM

His warning just a moment too late, a powerful shockwave exploded out, forming an even deeper crater within the first crater. Of the dozen Hunters and guards that had gathered up to attack, all save one was blasted backwards, blood spattering and bones cracking.

The one that had launched the ice projectile was the only one still standing, a cocoon of ice having formed around him in an instant. The cocoon shattered almost immediately after, however, revealing a a pale faced black haired warrior with blood leaking out of his mouth.

Jack had managed to move his blade in front of himself once more, and combined with his Spirit, he warded off most of the impact from the shockwave. Only a few small pieces of rock shrapnel had made it past his blade, leaving a few cuts on his forehead. Bale and Evan, despite being father off, weren’t so lucky, and were both knocked backwards from the surprise impact.

He almost stumbled for a second, however, feeling a jarring sense of disorientation. While he could block most of the damage, he couldn’t fully protect himself from the effects of the shockwave.

His eyes blurred for a second as he focused and threw off the grogginess, and then dashed forward, charging towards the Void Shocker.

From the archives, he knew that the creature was unable to release consecutive shockwaves without at least a second or two of pause.

That meant he had a small window to attack without being at risk of being hit by a shockwave.

Not giving himself time to think, Jack’s body blurred as it crossed the distance between himself and the Void Shocker in an instant.

Its huge hulking body twisted as it became aware of Jack’s charge. It didn’t growl or snarl as its odd, white masked face turned to stare at Jack. The huge and muscular arms of the creature jerked to the side, towards where he was charging from.

Even though the Shocker was extremely fast, moving at a speed even faster than Jack, when slowed down by five times, its movements became easy to gauge and follow. Jack carefully positioned his every step as he ran, dodging the arms of the monster with only an inch to spare.

As he did all of this, Jack went all out, not holding anything back. His blade first took on an oppressive greenish hue, the color of the concentrated Spirit Energy when using his Sunder the Earth technique. A split instant latter, the green due began to darken, changing to a dark, pitch black.

A look of utter concentration covered Jack’s face as he sliced down with his blade, aiming for the neck of the Shocker.

..

The bronze skinned, spear wielding Captain Orin of the O’Bald Pirates one of the now four Ironblood Captains, watched all of this happen, his eyes twisting in rage when they landed on the Void Shocker. He had once more arrived on the roof of his wagon, coming out at the first scream.

“Are we to help, Captain?” The small, lean Coroney appeared next to the Captain, his rapier already unsheathed as he looked down towards the middle of the caravan, where the fight was taking place.

“Hold. Not yet.” He said, his eyes focused on the ongoing battle. The blue light of Spirit flashed in his eyes, enhancing his vision. The second shockwave from the creature of the Void sent most the nearby Hunters back, leaving only a few nearby. One of the figures in the distance began to charge at the beast, swinging a blade.

“The Hunter from the Swift family is about to arrive, he should be able to handle…” The Captain’s voice trailed off as he stared intently at the black light that darkened on the sword that the Hunter attacking the Shocker wielded.