Kiran glided along the tree tops towards the Sideri at an incredible speed, hoping to impact it with some strength. But it didn’t turned out as he had hoped.

The Sideri turned its head and its body slowly followed to Kiran as two large bursts of compressed air flew towards Kiran. Though compared to the ones before it was smaller and slower, it was still faster than anything Kiran had faced.

It was only because of the distance between them that Kiran was able to dodge them cleanly. He knew that the Sideri couldn’t release as many as it wanted, it was near the brink of death. Kiran was not going to give it time to go and heal.

A breath of fire erupted from Kiran’s mouth at the Sideri as a stream of air was released from its mouth. The two elements clashed in mid-air as the fire was visibly getting pushed back.

Kiran stopped his fire and landed his body across from the Sideri. Its body was heaving, it was definitely weaker than before. He was trying to wear it down.

He knew that even though it was on the brink of death it was still far more powerful than Kiran. If he rushed in, the one who would die would be him.

Kiran circled the Sideri cautiously. Both their gazes never leaving the others.

After more probing from Kiran, the Sideri showed no signs of weakening.

He knew he had to do something soon, they could be here all day. And who knows what kind of beasts would be attracted here.

Immediately Kiran channelled the earth element chi through his body as he made ready to make his charge. The Sideri sensed the full-on attack from Kiran and it too prepared itself.

Kiran charged as his wings gave him extra momentum at the Sideri. His jaws wide open ready to kill the Sideri. They contacted as Kiran’s jaw was around its neck, but its skin was too rough to pierce through.

He felt pain shoot through his body as he let go of the Sideri’s neck and screamed. Three of the Sideri’s legs were impaled deeply into Kiran. Even though the Sideri could not move much at the beginning, it too wanted Kiran to engage in close combat.

Just as Kiran was waiting for this moment, it too was waiting for Kiran.

Kiran ignoring his wounds returned to the biting the neck, crunching even harder in hopes of piercing or crushing the neck. Slowly his razor sharp teeth got through as blood spewed from the Sideri. But it was not enough to kill it.

Kiran was at a disadvantage in all aspects, this wasn't a battle. It was a fist fight.

The two beasts stood, each with their weapons in the other, each waiting for the other to die. It was a matter of who could last the longest.

Kiran could feel his blood like flowing like a river out of his body. He was getting weaker and weaker. He may not last as long as he thought.

In a final attempt, his jaw came off the neck and with even more force this time, came down on it as his teeth dug even deeper into its neck. His feet charged forward as it dragged the Sideri with it, his wings expanded and took them both to flight.

Then his body aiming at the ground flew into it with the Sideri first. The impact caused an incredible crater to be formed as a tremor shook the earth.

As the dust settled around the crater, Kiran stood atop the Sideri, the latter’s limbs still within Kiran’s body slowly slid out and slumped on the ground. It laid under Kiran, dead.

Kiran was wounded, he had never been this damaged before. He was growing weaker by the second. He knew he needed to leave.

He quickly dug the crystals from both of the beasts forehead and carried the Sideri’s body with him as he flew to the closest mountain he could see. He managed to create a cave barely fitting him and hid inside.

His breathing got slower and slower as the elements gathered around him faster and faster. The blood that flowed out of his body flowed slower as Kiran meditated.

Time flew by and when Kiran recovered a little, he flew out again to pick up the Balgi’s corpse. After he had picked it up again, he returned. The time had come.

After the fight with the Sideri, he was now ready to advance. He was ready to become a Class C beast.

He devoured their bodies, an immense energy stored inside his body. Two large crystals laid in front of him, he placed one underneath each of his arms as he laid down and meditated.

A huge tremendous amount of elements flowed from the crystals to his body as his inner chi centre absorbed it. All the elements inside him spiralled as it too absorbed energy from the crystals and the surroundings of Kiran.

Slowly, the different elements in his body got denser and bigger. They stopped getting bigger as the two crystals were devoid of all energy. Now the only thing the elements from the outside world was doing was purifying the elements, making it denser, getting it ready to crystallise.

A long time had passed when suddenly the area around the mountain of Kiran spiralled out of control. More precisely, the elements around the mountain.

It was a tornado of elements with Kiran at its centre as it flowed into Kiran.

One by one, the elements inside him formed solidified. When finally, all the elements were crystalized, then his grey chi centre began. The process was a long one.

Then one day, the chaos around the mountain stopped, and everything seemed normal again.

Kiran’s eye slowly opened, his mind racing as he looked within himself. At his chi centre stood a grey circle, around it floated six hexagonal crystals corresponding to the elements earth, fire, air, water, wood and lightning.

He had done it as he sighed with relief. He then focused his minds power into his mind to view the place that housed his mind’s power. His eyes widened in shock. There was nothing.

At crystallization, magicians could finally develop the ‘minds plane’ which housed the magician’s mind power. The minds plane would usually be a representative of how powerful the magicians were.

Most magicians had crystals in their minds, much like chi users. The bigger the size, the more poweful etc. Some very gifted magicians had structures, like a wooden cabin or a stone house. There were even genius magicians who had mansions or castles.

But Kiran could see nothing of that sort in his mind’s plane. It was just… nothing.

His consciousness looked in as he saw a land that stretched far to the horizon. The night sky above him but even as he surveyed around on the plane, there was nothing.

Kiran retracted his consciousness as he opened his eyes. He felt it strange.

Suddenly his claw lifted as a single slice of air came flying out. He could still use magic. But why he wondered.

Soon with no conclusion, he put it out of his mind.

It was time for him to go leave, plus he also had to check on the panda. He did not know how long had passed, but he hoped it would still be there. A relic from his past.

But soon he found his body to be constricting, as he slowly maneuverer his way out of the cave. Towards the end, the entrance was too small as the side of the mountain crumbled against him.

He immediately flew as a landslide formed from his cave collapsing, he observed it as he landed further above the mountain.

‘Ah… so that’s why’ he realized as he could finally get a good look and feel himself.

If any mountain climbers were around, they’d shit themselves.

A 35m dragon clung to the side of the mountain as it cast its eyes downhill. Its large stature covered almost a face of the mountain as its long tail dangled behind.

With the advancement, he had grown exponentially. He could feel his body being tougher and stronger, power surged through him as he let out a roar. The sheer force was incomparable to before.

His claws soon let go of its grasp on the mountain as he flew away. Soon he landed where he had kept the panda. The cave intact, but the tree that Kiran had placed there had been moved slightly.

The panda was nowhere to be seen. A slight disappointment shone through in Kiran’s eyes.

Kiran then laid down beside the cave to familiarize himself with the new skills he now held.

First off, a dragon could not use much magic before crystalizing. That was one of natures rules. The fact that Kiran managed to use just a tiny bit was incredible. Other races, humans for example were different.

Kiran tried out new magic, but very simple stuff as he hadn’t learnt how to utilize it fully. Though he still could not use more than one magic at a time. He would learn more later, he thought as he moved on.

At crystallization, a new ability, which Kiran was very excited about, was the ability to transform into human form.

He closed his eyes as the lineage of his father and mother flowed through him. Information and details of how and what to do to transform into a human.

Soon, he could feel his body changing, getting smaller and smaller. After a while, his eyes opened and the surroundings seemed much larger than before.

He looked at the arms by his side now, human arms. His hands slowly bought up as he examined them. A laugh escaped Kiran in joy.

He took a step forward as his body leaped several metres across and fell to the floor as he was caught off guard. He had a moment of confusion until he realized why.

Even though he was in human form, his body was that of a dragon. Even his skin, although not as tough as his dragon form, was nearly as tough. He needed some time to get used to it.

But Kiran, being a master of assassination as well as his own body, managed to get used to it in no time.

Soon, he was performing some of the moves he had learnt back on earth. Specific steps and positions which would allow him to move quicker and more silent. Only now, with the power and senses of a dragon, it was much better than before.

He smiled as he clenched his fist. He moved swiftly as if floating towards a large tree and with his palms out, he pushed against the tree. The tree shook as nothing but a large amount of leaves fell to the ground.

It was an amazing performance of control, any dragon who had just turned into human would decimate the tree. And not many other races could have even controlled their strength to not damage anything else.

Kiran soon then fashioned himself a string of leaves around his waist, obviously because he was naked. Although it wasn’t perfect, it’d do for now.

Suddenly a rustle of leaves caught his attention. As he turned around his face lit up with surprise followed by confusion.

In the middle of the leaves, rolling around was the panda. Its body had grown by a metre or so but its mind obviously had not.

But what made Kiran confused was not that, it was the fact that the panda was a high class C beast. The last time he couldn’t quite tell but the panda was definitely around low-medium class C. How did it grow so quickly?

And how did it sneak up on Kiran without him noticing?

Even though Kiran was distracted, nothing should’ve gotten past him. And definitely not within a few metres of him without him noticing. If it was someone who was much more powerful, then sure. But the panda was a high C class.

His brows furrowed as he tried to search for an answer. The panda soon spotted Kiran as it crawled over to him. Its nose sniffled at Kiran as its face lit up when it recognized the smell. It rolled joyfully around Kiran.

And so, in the forbidden isle, there were tales of the adventure of a man along with a small panda.