60 The Truth 2 - The Thunder Beas (1/2)
[Name: Kirin (familiar)
Species: Thunder Beast
Ranks: Rare (I)
(300 / 2000)
Strength: 90
Agility:300
Vitality: 120
Zen Reserves: 2000 / 2000
Skills: Lightning Spirit(I) 40%, Thunder Wave(I) 70%, Lightning Rod(I) 15%, Quick Charge (I)30%, Protect (I) 10%]
”Awooh!” ”Awooh!” Kirin was crying in pain as its body continued to shake in Stigma's embrace, it was currently standing on its three legs since one was slightly bruised.
”It okay Kirin, it's okay....” After checking its stat, Stigma continued to pet it's head to calm it down, at the same time he trying to figure out who was capable enough to harm Kirin when it was to fast even for him to catch.
After finding Kirin, Stigma found that the wound was nothing but a large cut made from a blade. Nonetheless, it was provided with some emergency first aid treatment just to be sure to avoid infection. If not for the broken front leg, Kirin would be jumping at him in joy right now.
Stigma cleaned the wound first with some water from the canteen, then applied some ointment and clean bandage that Felix bought from his space ring.
Stigma wanted to heal Kirin using the Pure energy, but he decided that it was for emergency purposes only, and he had no idea what Felix reaction would be if he could heal wounds in seconds.
Since his Pure energy alone needed soul, he can't always rely on finding places that had abundant souls and risk increasing the Taboo skill. Plus, if Stigma were to go a place like a graveyard, he doubted that there would be enough lingering souls, so he needed to conceal the Pure energy until he can figure out another method, or when he a lot more reserves.
Places that were filled with corpses are what Stigma or more accurately Cheng Xuan wanted to avoid venturing in, since he was warned by his late mother that it was considered disturbing the death from falling asleep peacefully. Though he assumed it was nothing more but a warning to not wander inside a cemetery when he was younger.
He had never done the 'Soul Burial' in front of another person, so he had no idea if they would be affected like Bell[1] said or they could see what he sees and tamper the corpses. If they saw what Stigma was doing, they would believe he was performing a ceremony or if not they would assume he was a religious person praying for random people who died.
Though Stigma didn't want to hurt it, he manage to tightly bandage Kirin's back and leg with some difficulty. There was some blood on the floor, but it didn't appear as though Kirin had lose to much blood, so it was fine for now.
Though it struggled under Felix grasp, it stayed completely still for Stigma, between the two it obviously trusted Stigma completely. Though Felix didn't complain as he studied Kirin from a distance with great curiosity, recalling what Stigma had said, Kirin was called a Thunder Beast - instead of calling it a beast clad in lightning; the correct term would be - a Beast bathed in lightning.
'Amazing, to actually find a Heavenly Beast that has said to be found only in legends the - Thunder Beast.'
Legends says that the Thunder Beast is said to be a lone wolf reborn in the Heavens and became a companion of a Heavenly Being of Lighting who hunted in the sky using his lightning element.
Before, he was but a solo hunter, the type who like the thrill of a chase and had subdued the Beast to live in peace in the Heavens.
Through many years of hunting alone, the Heavenly Being of Lightning thought of bringing a companion, but all the animals in heaven either had a master to follow or were too stubborn to leave their homes. After searching for decades, he gave up and chose to find a companion in the mortal world were survival was at its prime, by transforming into a cloud he started his search at the mountains, soon he found that many beast that lived there would suit his criteria, yet they could only hunt on their own.
With such candidates living among the strong, the Heavenly Being stayed and choose to cover the sky until he found the right one.
Yet again not one was capable of hunting with a partner but his patients was what got him the title of the God of the Hunt. Another year had passed and he was almost ready to give up on his search, but then he had found a pact of animals moving as one to hunt a large beast that toward a boulder - a bear. Curiosity filled the Heavenly Being, so he chose to follow them in secret, and found out what the small Beast were - wolves.
Though small they were fast, though weak individually they coordinated with one another. From time to time, they were able force the large beast to constantly retreat with fear in its eyes.
When the beast was finally taken down by their teamwork, the Heavenly Being had decided to take the wolf as his companion, since he didn't want his hunts to be too easy, he chose to find a lone wolf to further enjoy the kinship and deepen a bound until then.
Within the group, an aging wolf was found with its last breath, being careless it was struck down from protecting one of its own. Caring not for its dying breath, the pact had left it behind as they feasted on their prize.
When the pact was gone, the Heavenly Being took the opportunity to descended from the sky in a form of lighting burning the wolf's body to cinders, from its ashes the Heavenly Being had brought it's remains towards the heavens, continuously bathing it in the lightning element to let it be reborn.
After ten years the wolf was reborn into a Heavenly Beast, from the start it was brought towards the Heavenly Being many hunts. But instead of accepting it's fate to be its companion, it only ended with the wolf closing its heart towards everything believing it to be a form of future betrayal.
Through many encounters of hunting and surviving life threatening wounds, the wolf finally opened up and chose to be its master companion and accepted to form a pact, finally becoming the future Beast of The Thunderous Hunt - the Thunder Beast. With their new founded trust, these two were forever known as - ” 'Thunder and Lighting' the Storm of the Heaven Realm”.
With each hunt, their fame grew and their trust deepened, causing many to praise their ability all beast of the wild to fear.
However, the Heavenly Being of the Cloud and Wind, grew jealous of their accumulating fame, so he decided to challenge them with a wager that if they lose, the Heavenly Being of Lighting must give up his hunting life. With the challenge accepted, the Heavenly Being used water and air, to give birth to a powerful Beast of legends - a Dragon.
With such a powerful foe before them, the Storms of Heaven could only accept the task and take the beast down, their battle lasted for ten years yet the mortal world continued to suffer from the dragon's roar that called tornadoes, from the howl of the Thunder Beast thunderstruck, from Heavenly Being's lightning fell from its command destroying the ground below.
'Thus, their battle became known as the 'The Storm''
With whole Heavenly Realm watching, all were in awe, but the Heavenly Being of the Cloud and Wind grew impatient and created a barrier of Clouds that made one lost once entered - the mist.
As their battle continued to rage on, the mist enveloped the lands and shrouded their sight, trapping them from the outside world.
At the end of the tenth year in engaging with a fierce battle between another powerful beast, the Thunder Beast was struck from protecting its master and was casted down from the heavens, becoming lost in the clouds. As the ferocity of the Dragon continued, the Lightning Heavenly Being could only lament on his fallen comrade and struggled within the cloud like prison.
With his objective completed, the Heavenly Being Cloud and Wind that trapped them disappeared and never sought them out again. For his final ploy, he made sure the Thunder Beast would never return to the Heavens and find it's master, by concealing the pathway to the Heavenly Realm and shrouding it with his enchanted mist along with creating dummy clouds.
With the entry of Heavenly concealed, the wolf can only lament as his master continued to fight with Dragon on his own. Continuing to shift away from the sky day by day. Not giving up on his master, the wolf gave its thunderous howl to the sky to support his master.
But his endless chase had exhausted it and had found itself left behind in the mountains, lost on its own unfamiliar birth land.
At the end of each year, the Thunder Beast called upon thunder when the sky was dark and the water fell, calling for his master to find him. But after many years its master never answered or returned to find it. The beast had given up of calling after a hundred years and lived in the tallest mountains where the clouds can be reached, hoping to meet his master again after his battle.
After finding a female companion to mate, it had created a great lineage of noble hunters that carried his bloodline along with his teachings of companionship to leave the mountains and spread its ideals.
Centuries of a branching lineages and not one of its descendants have forgotten to carry on the duty and mission to find master to serve, even to the lesser breed they never forgotten or disgraced their great ancestors glory and pride as a form of instinct.
But with the mortals discovered the blessing known as cultivation, the beast were hunted down to be trophies of glory and nourishment as a proof of manhood. The beasts then had lost the reason to follow the ideal and formed families in the wild, rarely mingling with humans.
If a non-Cultivator were to be spared from finding one, then he/she will considered a great leader or
had the destiny to become a historical figure. If a Cultivator were find one and made a contract, then he/she is said to be blessed by the heavens and be the reincarnation of the Legendary wolf's master who still held loyalty too and become a living legend.
....
'If the legend is true, then Stigma will be....' Felix stopped for a moment and shook his head from the thought, and pushed aside the legend as it does not dictate a person's life. The story was told to encourage youths to be brave in the face of danger, so it was considered a fairy tale.
But when Stigma used the technique Felix taught him, a symbol appeared on his hand, the same symbol of little blue wolf's head. Confirming that Stigma is the actual contractor and owner of the Heavenly Beast, but Felix still believed that Stigma had the choice.
Forcing someone who has the capability and ignoring their wishes is the worst thing anyone can do. Especially when Stigma is still a child and had the right to decides to be what he wanted to be, if he chooses to make history, then it was Felix and his clan responsibility to do their best and make sure he was raised correctly.
'Fulfilling a role is different from going towards a goal.'
”I have got to admit, two days ago I heard and found those rumored' puddles of blood' in the forest, this explains where it all came from. Stigma, what should we do know, you found Kirin so should we leave now?”
Though Felix wanted to investigate the corpses, he was curious on what Stigma's next step would be, he knocked out the guards on his own and made an accurate deduction so he must have a rough idea on what the next step should be in this situation.
”We should check the corpse from outside the cave, the smell of corpses reminds me of when I woke up, plus it would be a waste of time checking the entire cave.”