Towering almost two-stories tall, the eleven-horned white-skinned rhino weighing over ten-thousand kilos was thrashing its way through houses. The brick walls, the wooden walls, and even the stone walls couldn’t stop its momentum.
Even though a ten-man squad of flying guard squad was showering arrows and bullets, they couldn’t even scratch it. Though they were aiming for its eyes, the horns covering the face made it almost impossible to precisely hit the eyes, especially while it was on the move.
Harley shot arrows coated with Red-Drive, but even his arrows that could pierce through boulders could only scratch this beast even in spots where its skin was supposed to be softest.
“If only we could at least slow it down…” Harley was gritting his teeth. “Where the hell are the Four Dr
The rhino left destruction and death in its wake. A small hand could be seen under the rubble. It definitely wasn’t an adult’s.An old woman got her leg crushed under a falling wall, and she was howling and begging for help. He couldn’t move from here. However, amid the chaos, nobody cared for those stuck under the rubble. Most people were busy running for their own lives.At one place, the rubble was blasted aside, and a person covered in blood got up to his feet. It was Edgar. His fist was covered in white lightning.He was furious more at himself than at the beast that had put him in this state. And with every heartbeat, the lightning around his fist got hotter and hotter to the point it was burning his flesh.He could hear the devastation the rhino
The whole hospital collapsed, but nobody cared to help. Other than one single soul, pushing the rubble aside and looking for survivors, no other helper was in sight.“Please be alive, sis,” Edgar kept digging through the rubble fast while being gentle and careful.Before he could find any soul, a wild dog had snuck in from behind and bit his shoulder.“Ahh!” Edgar cried out. The dog was of typical size, but its bite was freakishly strong and bone-gripping. Edgar screamed and grabbed its face. His fingers instinctively searched for its eyes and poked them. The dog squealed and let go of his shoulder. He lifted a big block in the rubble and smashed the dog’s head with it.His shoulder was hurting, but he didn’t stop. He kept searching. F
At dawn, the town bell rang three times, signaling the victory of the humans. But it was still risky to come out. After an hour later, another bell rang. This one meant that most threats lurking about inside the village were also taken care of. Only then people came out of their houses that were still intact and witnessed the blood and gore.The air didn’t smell nice or feel fresh like the usual days, and the scent of death dominated all.Most people were heading toward the town council, which was made of the important and influential people of the clan. There was no particular head that ruled over it, but, in general, the baronet’s words still held more weight than of others.Thousands were gathering at the council, both the ones who fought in the war and those who stayed in their homes.<
The Four Masters took the stage and broke each other’s records. Dubril Zha: 328. Corio Zha: 346. Bushin Zha: 387. Ashang Zha: 502. “Are you kidding me?” people were gasping, especially after hearing Ashang Zha’s number. “He killed five-hundred beasts without even suffering a scratch?” “The First Master is a monster! He killed the mountain lion that has killed so many warriors.” “The other masters are not far from him either. They’re monsters, too!” “If they hadn’t been protecting a lot of warriors and taking care of a lot of things, they would have killed many more.”
“Hundred is a great number, but unfortunately, it’s still not enough to get you a wish,” Jorga told Edgar, expecting what the boy was going to ask. “But if you’re willing to stay in this town for the next ten years, then I can grant you a dignitary token, with which you can buy goods and resources for reduced prices anywhere in the town.” “I don’t want a token,” Edgar straightforwardly said. “Give me money if you can.” “How dare this kid demand things from the council!” some onlookers rebuked him. “Just because you killed some beasts, you think you can ask whatever you want?” Jorga raised his hand, and the people stopped. After discussing with the council members for a minute, Jorga said, “We’ve always given resources as rewards instead of money, but we’ll make an ex
“Eh?” “I-Isn’t that the Hill Bull?” “This senile woman killed that thing? Impossible!” “Even my brother from the defense squad couldn’t stop that thing. So many guards tried and failed to kill that. How can she defeat that thing?” As people were blatantly raising questions, Jorga asked, “What do you have to say to this, madam?” “If they stop barking, I will finish my job here quickly,” the old woman’s reply stunned everyone. “This old hag wants to die!” “How dare she talk like that in front of the council. If not for her age, I would have slapped her!” Not minding the people’s opini
The sun in the skies wasn’t shining as much as he usually did over the past few months.Every adult in the town was busy doing something. Some were mourning the loss of their loved ones. Some were repairing the broken houses and damaged property. Some were leaving the town having made profits or suffered losses. But in all of them, the memories of the Burden War were still fresh.Children were also busy playing. Even though the parents told them to stay inside, they sneaked out eventually. And they were living in their own little worlds, playing with the monster parts and being innovative and all.Meanwhile, Harley was in the south-east end of the town. He found some beasts bodies in quick mud, but there wasn’t a single sheep among them. “What happened to the sheep? Even if they somehow managed to
“The rain has come, but the people are leaving,” said Fabby. “Maybe we should also get going.” “Mm,” he nodded and smiled. Just then the innkeeper entered the hall to check how the construction was going on; however, when he noticed Edgar and Fabby standing outside, he immediately scuttled over to them. But after coming closer, he didn’t know how to start the conversation. Edgar glanced back, only to get startled upon seeing the innkeeper’s face so close. “Whoa, you scared me.” “I-I’m sorry. I was enjoying the rain, too,” said Saiga. He didn’t know what else to say. “Oh, okay,” Edgar moved to the side. “You can enjoy it now.” “U-Uh, yeah,” Saiga kept looking toward the sky a
Edgar woke up, only to find himself in a pool of mud. He could feel that he was being healed by fish that were swimming in the mud and were nibbling at his skin.At first sight, it might look like they were eating him, but they were actually taking away the negative energy from his body, though he was not able to feel that.Edgar tried to grab one of those fishes, but they turned into pure mud, pleasantly surprising him.He looked at Fabby who was sitting in the distance, by the cliff. “What are these fishes, sis?”“Elder Gavin made them with his drive. He said they can suck away impurities from your body and make you stronger,” Fabby explained. “He said even your drive will get smoother and faster afterward. Also, the negative effect the beast cores have on our bodies can also be reversed, or so he said.”“Such a thing is possible with drive?” Edgar was both surprised and doubtful. “These fish are biting me, but I don’t feel any pain.”“Yeah. Just stay there until all those fish are
The eagle brought the siblings to a mountain range and dropped them next to Gavin who was weaving gloves with drive.He wasn’t surprised to see the position the siblings were in.“Here,” Gavin handed the gloves to the eagle, and it put the gloves on its feet and then screeched in happiness.“Haha, you like them, huh,” Gavin smiled. “They are durable as I knit them with my drive. So, don’t lose them.”Scree~!The eagle replied in a confident voice and then began to walk around happily in its new footwear.“They look like gloves, but they should be called socks, I guess?” Gavin wondered. “Ah, well, whatever…”Gavin then looked at the siblings, out of whom only Fabby was still conscious. She was trying to sit up, and it was taking her a while.“You don’t seem to have any external injuries. You are probably tired from using too much energy,” Gavin said. He sent a bullet of energy into her forehead, which didn’t hurt her but went straight into her brain and melted into it. This suddenly ga
“Surfing Strike!’ Edgar’s foot viciously struck Ryu’s face and sent him flying high like a rotating paper fan. Any normal person would have had their head separated from their shoulders from that kick, but Ryu’s neck was flexible as well as sturdy as rubber.Ryu grabbed his head and stopped it from spinning before somersaulting and landing in the distance.“Huh?” Fabby was quite shocked by it. “Why is he not dead? Is he even human?”“His body is a bit special, you see,” Anarga smirked and then looked at Ryu. “But, hey, how could you get hit by that brat like that? You should be glad that there isn’t anyone else around, or it would have brought such shame.”Blood leaked from Ryu’s ruptured upper lip. He licked it and faintly smiled. “It’s been a while since I tasted my own blood.” His eyes turned red.“Oh, crap…” Anarga skipped backward. “You guys brought a disaster on yourself. When he goes into that frenzy mode, he’s unstoppable. Even I wouldn’t dare stand next to him because he can
Anarga squeezed Edgar’s chest down, but when Edgar saw Ryu step toward his sister, he uttered, “Thunder Knight…”The ground beneath them cracked, and the air around them crackled. The very cliff itself vibrated in resonance with Edgar’s heartbeat.Anarga lost her balance just for a second. A double-edged lightning spear appeared in Edgar’s hand, and he thrust it right through her abdomen.She thought it would leave a hole in her, but it didn’t. However, it then electrocuted her to the point her clothes were half-burnt, and she looked like a semi-roasted grizzly bear.Ryu immediately clawed through the middle section of the spear and then took Anarga and jumped a few feet away. “How could you be so careless?”Anarga fell on one of her knees. Blood leaked from both corners of her mouth, even though she tried not to leak any blood.“Does it hurt that much?” Ryu asked.She gave him a glare.“I see…” Ryu then looked at Edgar, who was rising off the ground without the use of his hands, as th
Anarga’s body went into the rock, causing cracks all around her to spread for over thirty feet.Ryu’s feet were still locked by the earthen boots that Fabby had created, but he forcefully broke through them and whipped his leg at Edgar. “Dragon Knock!”“Ngh!” Edgar raised his left arm and blocked the kick with his forearm.Ryu’s foot forced its way through Edgar’s flame drive and struck his forearm and hit a nerve, sending a jolt of shock through to Edgar’s brain. On top of that, Edgar’s forearm got dislocated near the elbow.Ryu’s kick still sent a gust of energy over into the distance, which ended up blasting away a part of the cliff, shocking Fabby and Edgar.Fabby’s heart shook at that moment because if Edgar hadn’t deflected that kick, he wouldn’t have just got his arm dislocated. It was Edgar’s hunter-like instinct of parrying the kick at the last second was what saved him from experiencing a crushing defeat.Ryu didn’t even use drive. Whether he could even use drive or not, Edg
“Is this the best you can do?” Ryu said disappointedly. “I know you can do better, bald brat.” He treated Edgar as nothing more than a kid because he was much older than him. “Why don’t you show me what you got, or I’ll kill this bald girl.”Edgar, who was bleeding profusely from the chest, felt his soul stirring madly after hearing Ryu’s words.“Don’t listen to him,” Fabby said in a low voice. “We are not their match. Fighting them will only put us at a disadvantage. And there’s no one else here to stop the fight in case things go bad. It doesn’t benefit us in any way no matter how I look at it. Moreover, you are already badly injured.”Fabby’s words made total sense, but there was one thing that she didn’t consider. Edgar just couldn’t digest let alone accept the fact that Anarga Utsav had used her wind attack and pushed Fabby off the cliff. What if Fabby died from that?Edgar utterly disliked Anarga as well as Ryu. He didn’t want them to leave with a sense of victory.“Sis,” Edgar
“AHHH!” The siblings cried out in horror, mostly because of the pure shock value. Their eyes sprang out of the sockets. They totally didn’t expect that the eagle would do such a thing.Edgar was about to use his skill, but Fabby quickly said, “No, wait.”“Huh? Wait for what?” Edgar asked her back as winds viciously whipped at their faces.“Just wait,” she replied. As both of them kept getting closer to the ground, Edgar’s heart raced fast. “Screw this. I’m-” he was saying, but then the eagle suddenly came swooping down and caught both of them when they were about 100ft close to the ground and took them away with him.Edgar and Fabby held onto its talons so they wouldn’t fall.The eagle stopped by another mountain top and acted as if everything was okay.“You think I’ll thank you for saving our asses, you shitty bird!” Fabby punched the eagle hard in the face. “I thought I was going to die! You were the cause for scaring me near to death.”Even Edgar looked angry. His heart jumped in
Coming back to the present.The eagle had no idea who Edgar was, so Fabby had to do all the work except for flying. “Where is he?”She was worried for many reasons.The eagle even flew over the colosseum grounds, and she shouted for him, “Are you there, Eddie?”“Who’s that?” some masters and disciples wondered as she wasn’t clearly visible from below. “How rude of her to be flying over this place when the competition is still going on?”“He’s not here, either,” Fabby told the eagle to keep flying.As she kept looking around, she noticed someone bathing in an open pond. Just when she looked at him, he also looked up. She remembered his face mask. This was the same guy she met in a cave not long ago.Numo was not wearing a shirt right now, and his body was pristine white. It wasn’t muscular, but it still looked athletic and toned. It was very attractive, especially because he was a tall man.“Ahem,” Fabby looked away.After the eagle flew out of his sight, Numo continued rubbing his body
Months turned to years.Even though working in the fields had become a daily habit, so did the body pains. If not feet, then legs; if not legs, then back; if not back, then something else in the body took the turn. And by the time they got home, they were pretty tired, yet they wouldn’t be able to eat what they had produced or found.They were only given a limited amount of food such as corn or grains so they could make soup and live with it. The same plain soup with no vegetables in them whatsoever waited for them every night. And they were not paid anything else for their labor, for they were forced to work for the rest of their lives. There was no contract. Nothing. They were pretty much treated like cattle, or maybe even worse, with the only difference being their ability to talk. No matter how they were treated, they still worked hard, for most of them had reasons, be it their children and families.Fabby had Edgar, and Edgar had Fabby. Everyone had someone else they were willing