Chapter 23

Auromi sat up and softly rubbed her shoulder.

Sol asked. “How is it? Is there any pain?”

“No pain, only a dull soreness. Thank you for healing me.”

“Try not to move it around if you can help it. After a day it should be back to normal.”

Auromi nodded and turned to Calgar. “I’m ready now. Did you come up with anything?”

He shook his head. “Nothing worth mentioning. I’m afraid we’ll have to improvise here.”

“Is that so… well, I have a feeling you can get us through this Calgar.”

He gave her a doubtful look before addressing the twins. “Luna I want you in sword form from now on, Sol stay by Auromi to give her light and protection.”

“”Understood.””

As Calgar took Luna, who was now a sword, he approached the entrance of the little cave they had made. He slowly emerged and scanned the surroundings. The beast was nowhere in sight. He gathered energy within himself and began to concentrate. What he was doing was a technique to locate living beings that might be concealed, either through stealth or magic.

However, he wasn’t able to sense anything other than himself and the girls. He wondered if the beast had left or if he just wasn’t able to detect it.

Keeping his guard up he moved towards an opening that ventured further underground. He passed by it earlier while running. Auromi and Sol were right behind him.

“Will this lead us in the right direction?”

“It’s hard to tell, but I can feel a strong amount of energy flowing from there.”

He peered back down the hole. It was circular and had a diameter of roughly 10 meters. The rock face was smoothed and resembled a slide.

Calgar muttered. “This must be one of the creature’s tunnels… Alright let’s head down.”

He picked up Auromi. She was startled by his sudden action. “What are you-.” But before she could finish, he clambered down the edge and begun to slide down the tunnel. He skillfully weaved with the ebb and flow of the slopes. There were some sudden drops, but with his free hand Calgar was able to break momentum and navigate them safely.

They reached the tunnels exit faster than they expected and found themselves in another large underground cavern. What met their eyes was the sight of a dazzling underground lake. The water literally shined with an assortment of colors, painting the walls with all the colors found in a rainbow.

“Could this be the source?”

“Yes, the energy is strongest here.”

The walls and ceiling were covered with the pale red glowing rocks they found earlier. In the middle of the lake was a large diamond shaped crystal. It too radiated multiple colors and floated on the water’s surface.

Auromi pointed to it. “There Calgar, that crystal seems to be the focal point of the energy.”

“I don’t sense the creature here. Let’s hurry and leave before it shows up.”

They sprinted to the water’s edge. The sound of their footsteps reverberated throughout the cavern. When they reached the lake, Auromi cast a spell on Calgar.

“This will allow you to walk on water.”

“Thank you.”

He set his foot on the surface of the water. Ripples spread out and disturbed the otherwise still surface. Even putting his weight onto his leg didn’t make it sink. To Calgar, right now the water was no different than rock.

He came closer to the large diamond. “Luna, have you sensed anything?”

“No Father, it’s just us. I would have thought it would retreat to here, but maybe we were wrong?”

“If only we could be that lucky. Don’t drop your guard, even for a second. Once I reach the crystal I have to focus on that, so I’m counting on you.”

“Ha! I’ll never let you down!”

He was less than 30 meters from the crystal when he felt its presence. From under the surface of the water, the Beast’s two pronged tail emerged and wrapped around the crystal. With a quick tug, the tail dragged the crystal underwater making a loud ‘plop’ sound.

The Beast’s head emerged from the ground on the opposite shore. Its red eyes glaring at the divine beings as if to say, ‘You’ve made a grave mistake coming to my nest.’

Calgar was staring back, however his was a stare that was trying to analyze his opponent’s weaknesses and what the best way to exploit them. He looked for soft spots, the eyes, the mouth, the underbelly. Would Luna be able to pierce through?

The Beast’s red spikes on its back shone brightly and sparks were discharged in all directions. The red spots on its body gave off a soft glow.

“…It seems like it’s going to get serious this time.”

The Beast knew they weren’t normal prey. The earlier encounter proved that much; therefore it would begin by attacking carefully and test what they were capable of.

Red sparks began to surround its mouth and with a roar, was discharged at Calgar. The attack wasn’t so much a laser, as it was a focused lightning strike. Calgar leaped into the air just as the attack hit the water’s surface.

Being a lightning based attack; he expected the water to act as a conductor, but was surprised to see it ricochet up and explode upon hitting the ceiling.

Maybe the Beast knew that would happen and Calgar would jump, because it lunged at him, using its body as a spring. Its strike was blindingly fast. A normal person would have never seen it coming, but Calgar saw it clearly.

He twisted his body in the air and rolled off the side of the Beast. Not missing the opportunity, he reared back his right hand that held Luna and thrust it forth. The dark blade that shone like the night sky pierced into one of the three eyes on the Beast’s right side. Thick red blood spewed from the gashing wound. The Beast let loose a blood curdling roar that shook the cavern.

Calgar held on to Luna and tried to get his balance as the Beast thrashed around and made a huge splash as it landed in the water.

Using the chance while it was distracted, Auromi and Sol launched their magic attacks.

“[Aura Lanceam]!”

“[Stella Solari]!”

As Auromi clapped her hands together, 20 transparent spears made of energy appeared around her. With a gesture of her hand they launched towards the Beast. As they struck the obsidian scales on its back and sides, the spears shattered and did no damage, but the ones that managed to hit the under scales pierced through.

Sol on the other hand gathered light above her head and held it aloft with one hand. When she reached the maximum charge, she did a half turn and slung the ball of light from her waist at the Beast’s head. As if having a mind of its own the ball scattered into smaller orbs right before it hit, spreading out the damage.

A sick sound of flesh sizzling could be heard. Enraged, the Beast let loose a huge amount of energy. Crimson lightning arced from body and exploded anything it came into contact with.

Calgar and Luna were blown away and crashed into the lake. Red sparks jumped from his body as he felt intense pain. Auromi hastily erected a shield made of magic in front of her. As stray rocks and lightning assaulted them, cracks began to appear on the shield.

Auromi was straining to maintain her magic. “What monstrous energy! I can’t output any more magic than this; otherwise my body will start to feel the effects.”

“Then allow me to assist you.”

“Sol… thank you that helps.”

With their combined magic the cracks began to mend themselves. Over on the lake, Calgar staggered as he got on his feet.

“That really hurt. To think my power is lower than that of a beast.”

“I apologize that I can only cut its soft parts Father… If only I had more energy to use to power myself up.”

Calgar chuckled. “Isn’t that also my fault? After all, I’m the one who supplies energy to you and Sol.”

Calgar looked at the Beast thrashing about. Just like the time at Astrid City, when he was looking down upon the field of battle, something began to stir inside his armor. Once again his soul essence began to pulse like a heartbeat. His normal amber glow was turning crimson.

“So that’s what this is… the feel of battle. I’m starting to remember it.”

Because of the random attacks from the Beast, many of the pale red stones were destroyed. The air had grown thick with latent magic. Calgar simulated taking a deep breath. Magic started to condense around him.

“Ah, it feels good. Like a sweet fruit that tickles all the right taste buds.”

The crimson glow peeking from his joints began to turn golden. The white fur that circled around the back of his head started to smolder along with the brown cape at his waist. The Beast’s five eyes noticed the change in Calgar. Still angry, it hissed at him, but didn’t attack. It could sense something was different. It was no longer a fight with its prey, but a duel between two predators.

The Beast coiled its body up underneath the water and Calgar calmly took a fighting stance holding Luna with both hands at eye level and pointing her blade forward.

There was a small silence lasting not even ten seconds.

The Beast charged up another breath attack, yet before it could fire, Calgar had closed the distance. Not expecting him to approach so quickly, the Beast hastily swung its claw at him. The sharp claws were deflected easily by Luna. Calgar followed up with a slash to the body and a small cut was made.

The Beast was confused. It thought that the weapon Calgar held couldn’t hurt its scales, but now it was able to cut through them. Unsure of what was happening, it decided to retreat and create some distance, but it had forgotten that Calgar was not its only opponent.

“Now Sol!”

Auromi and Sol launched the same attacks from earlier, aiming at its head. Unable to defend in time, the combined magic snatched away two of its left eyes and knocked loose a couple fangs. It again writhed in agony and thrashed about. The tail that had been holding the crystal diamond underwater reflexively whipped up and let go of its treasure.

Without missing a beat, Calgar was there to intercept the crystal. He put his hand on its smooth surface.

“You’re mine now.”

With those words the crystal burst into a million tiny shards and released a faint white haze which was violently sucked into Calgar’s body. The Golden glow of his joints shone brighter and the smoldering fur and cape burst into yellow flames. Although he was burning, he showed no concern, as the flames did not hurt him.

The Beast was scared. Its instincts were telling it only one thing right now, and that was that it had to escape. It fired a breath attack to try and buy time, but Calgar just casually deflected it with magic. The attack that would have caused damage before now seemed to be nothing but an annoyance to him.

Seeing its attack fail, the Beast struck from below the water with its now empty tail, but Calgar just stepped aside and dodged it completely. He swung Luna at the tail almost as an afterthought, and severed a good portion which splashed into the lake and sank to the bottom.

It was then the Beast made its decision. It dove into the ground and dug with all its might. The severed end disappeared out of sight as Calgar reached the hole and looked down.

“Father, lets chase after it!”

Luna’s voice was filled with excitement, but Calgar simply shook his head. “There is no need.”

Raising his hand he activated a spell that he could now use. A dark energy that seemed to suck in all light appeared between his fingers.

“[Oblitero].” He clenched his fist around the darkness.

The rumbling of the earth abruptly stopped. Auromi and Sol approached him.

“Is it dead?”

Calgar nodded. “It’s dead.”

Luna giggled. “Death would have been better than what Father did.”

Behind them, the sound of water being drained was heard. The underground lake begun to recede and a small whirlpool developed in the center.

Calgar mused. “I must have weakened the rocks below and created an opening for the water.”

Auromi interjected. “By the way, that appearance you have… how nostalgic.”

Sol agreed. “To see a semblance of your true form, it is proof we are making headway.”

The image of Calgar right now was the same silver armor, except for the golden color from his joints and the yellow flames around his neck and waist. It was still far from his true appearance, but since everyone here knows what he truly looks like, they could see the resemblance.

“Ah, sorry. My mind was still in the state of battle. One moment.”

Calgar calmed himself down. He was beginning to regain control over his urges and emotions. As he did, the flames died out and the amber glow returned.

Auromi asked him. “How do you feel?”

He clenched his fist. “It feels wonderful. Taking in all that magic at once really is different than taking it in slowly over time. It leaves a euphoric feeling in my body.”

Auromi gave a wry smile. “Just don’t let it go to your head, okay?”

Calgar nodded. “Of course. Now let us find a way out of here.”