Volume 1: Path – [Mist Forest Arc]
Chapter 41: Sky Serpent
'Fuck my life, is me being demon-cursed with misfortune really true?' Caelus muttered under his breath, the thought gnawing at him as the scene before his eyes made him question it more than ever.
What lay ahead was the reason they had come for the crystal leaves. Caelus himself couldn't see it, but Aiv, seated in focused meditation, had sensed it… and along with it, the presence of a massive serpent.
According to the information on the Mist Forest, there was only one kind of serpent here, which is the Sky Serpent. Its name came from its element and manifestation, a rare combination of lightning and fog, fused into a phenomenon researchers had dubbed "Cloud."
There was, of course, a dark history behind it. The first Sky Serpent appeared a hundred years ago, born from a Fog Serpent, one among many dwelling in the Mist Forest. This Fog Serpent had devoured a high-ranking lightning-element human user whose core was especially difficult to digest. At the time, the serpent was already gravid with eggs, and the lightning core caused a mutation in one of them.
Fog Serpents were said to cherish their young more than any other serpent species. Even with the mutation, the mother cared for the egg as tenderly as the rest. But when it hatched, the destruction it unleashed was catastrophic; the blast radius reached a hundred meters. Because Fog Serpents lived communally to protect their offspring, the explosion wiped out many hatchlings and yearlings. Only serpents that had already reached Rank 1 Initial Stage survived.
The tragedy sparked a massive battle between the grieving serpents and the mother of the mutated offspring. She fled, sacrificing half her tail in the process, and eventually hid in a cave with her child.
Within a year, the mutant grew from one meter to ten, its development unnaturally fast. After the mutated serpent turned two years old, it grew to the size of its mother, which is 20 meters. On the day it reached 2 years, it turned on its own mother, though the reason was unknown. Researchers speculate that it was to awaken itself. The mother didn't resist it since fog serpents are known for loving their children so dearly that they would even sacrifice anything to save their children, so it died without resisting the attack of the Sky serpent. After awakening its core, the serpent began a killing spree across the island, targeting all other remaining Fog serpents.
In less than a decade, it had driven all other serpent species to extinction. It eventually laid a small clutch of eggs, Sky Serpents, but with one hatchling's destructive outbursts, all other hatchlings died, and though laying eggs for over a hundred years, keeping their numbers are still under ten. That is because the egg-laying cycle itself took five years, and violent clashes often erupted whenever Sky Serpents encountered each other.
Humans learned of this bloody history when they investigated the cause of the new mutated serpent and the extinction of Fog serpents. But as for who or what was not known or hidden from the world.
'But really, a mother is truly a mother like every mother would give their everything to save their kids, don't know about others but I truly got best mother of all, though she is dead and in Heaven, I am happy that she wouldn't have to see her son struggling and getting hurt left and right.' Caelus looked at the pitch black night sky that had no stars.
He then looked in front, looking at a massive, serpentine dragon-like creature swirling through thick, bluish-gray fog. Its form is ethereal yet solid, with scales appearing like dark stone. Electric golden lightning veins pulse along its body.
"What rank and stage is this serpent in, Aiv?"
"From what I'm sensing, it's at Rank 1 Peak Stage, though it could possibly be Rank 2 but that's less likely since a Rank 2 could easily sense me if I tried to probe further."
"Should we go somewhere else to search for the Pure Dew?"
"We've already been to two other places, and each one was crawling with beasts, and all of them were Sky Serpents. Our chances of running into that many Sky serpents are as rare as pulling an SSR gacha character. Even though this isn't their mating season, these serpents are staying in the same areas. We've been waiting over an hour at each spot. So, we need to take a gamble this time, so you go for the Pure Dew on the crystal leaves."
"Wait, what? How?"
"We've only got one option, and that is to fight it. It's stronger and faster than that Mist Deer, so I'll engage it while you grab the Pure Dew from the crystal leaves of the Crystal Tree."
"Aiv, but you're still in Rank 1 Middle Stage, how can you fight something clearly a stage above you?"
In the Awakeners' world, a rank can create a massive gap between two fighters, and a stage can, too, not as vast, but still significant.
Every time an awakener crosses a stage or rank, their physical attributes get boosted by certain numbers, and also the amount of energy they have in their core.
"Don't worry about that, I plan to use a technique that allows my stage to go up by one stage for two minutes. After that, I can at least put up a fight despite the serpent's lightning element in the cloud element being able to counterattack me."
"Okay, but be careful."
"Alright then, let's do this."
Aiv hid his presence of that into mist by covering the Leym energy all over his body. Leym energy will be colorless until one infuses the energy with an element of their own, and here Aiv's energy was infused with water, causing it to turn blue in color.
Mist has water in it, and using this method, Aiv covered himself with water. This can, of course, only help him to a certain extent; the serpent can sense him if Aiv were to come ten steps near it.
If Aiv were not to use this technique, he would be discovered the moment he arrived within 100 meters of the Sky Serpent, since all beasts have passive senses within a certain range. This Sky Serpent, like the previous Mist Deer, has such senses too.
Aiv moved to within 11 steps of the Sky Serpent and looked at its enormous body, over 50 meters long, with lightning crackling around it. The lightning wasn't large or medium in size, but rather small sparks scattered in some places along its body. The Crystal Tree stood in the middle of the Sky Serpent's coil.
Caelus used his inner sight to check the amount of Leym energy in his body; it was close to the Initial Stage, though not quite there. In percentage, he estimated he had 90% of the Leym energy required to advance from Awakened to Initial Stage.
He needed 10% more to reach the Initial Stage.
He had cultivated this energy during the time when Aiv was asleep due to injuries. Previously, he had been at 50% before cultivating energy in the chambers.
An Awakened would have 0% Leym energy in their core at awakening and must absorb the energy themselves to increase it. Absorption depends on one's talent; the higher the talent, the faster they can increase energy and break through ranks. Caelus had cultivated a total of 40% Leym energy on this mission; whenever he and Aiv stopped to rest, he cultivated, so that he could be of some use. Here, the energy was so abundant that the deeper he went inside, the richer it became.
Caelus didn't need to cultivate right now, so he didn't rest. Instead, he checked his energy to test one of the skills he had created himself, a movement skill. It might be known to others, but he had learned it on his own and also modified it in a different way, so he considered it his own creation.
'Since I still don't have an element or have reached the Recognition Stage, I can't use an element. But colorless Leym energy can be infused with any element we want, and this place is filled with water, mist, and lightning elements. Then why don't I try to absorb one of these elements temporarily and use it in my legs to make a movement skill?' Caelus had used his mind to create this skill, which took a total of five hours during this mission. Now, he planned to use it the moment he got a chance to take the Pure Dew from the crystal leaves.
Caelus felt the vibration of something massive moving beneath the ground. The moment it reached him, he knew Aiv had stepped within ten steps of the Serpent's range, and the creature had awoken from its slumber.
A sudden, thunderous explosion erupted. Caelus saw rain pouring from the sky, but it wasn't falling on him rather, it was falling just ahead, within his line of sight. His senses extended ten meters, and within that range, he could see clearly.
"It's started. Aiv told me to wait until the second explosion rains before making a run for the Crystal Tree."
Caelus was already rehearsing the scene in his mind, running through it more than five times. Even if it drained his mental strength and caused his stamina to plummet, it didn't matter to him as long as they succeeded in claiming the prize and getting back alive.
Within moments, the second explosion shook the air.
Caelus instantly channeled his Leym energy into his legs. The power spread slowly toward the ground, drawing in the mist elements clinging there. They resisted cause only elements aligned to him could be fully absorbed, but he forced the intrusion of an element, something he is not aligned with, which caused him to engage in a brief mental battle. Though the odds for a human were poor, his mental strength surpassed anyone at his rank, and he prevailed in the end.
Mist formed beneath his feet, a cool, vaporous layer that wrapped around them before sinking into the earth. The ground felt lighter, and energy coiled in his muscles, primed to launch him forward. With each breath, the mist bound tighter to his Leym, turning the surface into a slick, responsive path.
He felt he could move at incredible speed and in utter silence, like an assassin with every step he took.
[End Of Chapter 41]