Chapter 15: Chapter 14: Basilisk

[White Fang Clan]

Seeing Gervas fall over, Darganth closed their viewing portal. Compared to his relaxed attitude, Allaire was currently displaying a mixture of emotions. The two most prominent of these were delight at Gervas suffering and awe at the power of the second rank. Slowly this morphed into determination.

After seeing this she started to realize that her trust issues towards men wouldn't be solved until their source would be. She enjoyed to see someone who viewed women as nothing more than tool suffer but she knew it was only a patchwork solution. Until the two Zalek brothers have payed for what they have done to the women of the tribe she wouldn't rest.

And she saw a way to archive exactly that. Before she wanted to reach the second rank for the sake of it, but now she saw it as a tool to avenge all those that they have harmed. The only reason they weren't punished the moment their father died was that their tribe needed every third order warrior they could get and they hadn't acted like this since then. But if she could do the job of ten of them? Who would still punish her for killing them when most wanted to do the same.

Sitting next to her, Darganth watched her face go through many expressions after another. Realizing that she managed to get past her mental roadblock due to this experience, he smiled. After a few second she turned to him and, to his surprise, threw her arms around his neck, pushing both of them down onto the couch.

“I love you Darganth.” She said after a few second.

“While I initially wasn't sure if my feelings for you were love, by now I am. I know this might sound stupid after I had multiple weeks to think about it, but I need a little more time. In my life I have come into contact with people like Gervas multiple times and recently I realized that it scared me more than I initially thought. Even after seeing that you are different, even after realizing that I love you, it still affects me even with you. So I ask you to give me some more time, can you do that?” At her question Darganth nodded.

“Time is something I have enough of. While it probably wasn't ever used in this context before, the saying that time is a dragons ally holds true even here. You don't have to fear me dying before you have gathered your resolve. And you are definitely worth waiting for.” At his sincere words, she tightened her hug.

After a few minutes of staying like this, she let go of him. Seeing his teasing smirk, she tried to stop him from speaking but failed.

“Besides, its not as if I can only count on you to relief my lust.” At those words she started putting. While she had already accepted that he would have other women, him openly saying so still annoyed her.

“This was such a great moment and you ruined it.”

“Because you would do the same?” At his words she looked around innocently. She was of course aware that she would also make such a joke no matter the situation. Shaking her head, she decided to ignore this last comment and continued their embrace. Before she knew it, her eyes fell shut and she started sleeping.

The following four days, the two spend entirely with each other. During the day Allaire was training with Darganth's help, trying to reach the second rank. While her current mana quality lacked, this was something that would need time to be changed. Because of this, they instead focused on external aura, with Darganth showing it to her and trying to guide her. While he could have simply transferred the knowledge to her, Allaire wanted to archive it without being completely depended on him.

With her current progress, Darganth estimated it to take her around two months until she stepped into the second rank. This was an only slightly above average time, at least among those who received the tutelage of a high ranking aura user. Of course he had no idea whether the time was similar on this world, so could only speak from his experience in Vunreon.

During the remaining time of the day they would simply laze around together. They had also used this time to visit a cliff with a beautiful view a bit further away on the shore and watched the sunset together. This made word of them dating spread quickly, as they had decided to walk there instead of teleporting.

While this had earned him quite a few looks on envy and jealousy, Darganth couldn't care less as long as they didn't bother him or Allaire. Besides, today was the day they would set sail and they knew very well that a conflict with him on the ship would end even worse than on land. While they didn't know it, the delay of their journeys start he had asked for was timed so that he would be confident in flying back to shore at every moment of the journey.

While the current him was far from being able to cross even half the length to the central continent, by the half way point he would be. Additionally, after around two thirds of the journey his dragon heart would manifest, just in time for the most dangerous stretch. While one would expect the half way point to be the most dangerous, due to the central continents higher mana density it was around two thirds the way till a few kilometers from the central continents coast. How close to the coast depended on the naval strength of the nearby countries and how much effort they put into repelling the beasts.

The prospect of leaving this land where they have lost family members and friends made the tribe even more active. In the early morning hours the first people started boarding the ship, with them being mainly civilians. By the time he and Allaire had stepped out of the house, the camp consisted of only the warriors, with the first orders currently bringing the remaining objects the tribe deemed too important to leave behind, on board.

Making their way to the main group who were currently holding guard, they started scanning the forest for dangers. This group consisted of the third order and a large part of the second order individuals. The rest of the second orders were dispersed around the camp, guarding the less dangerous directions.

When they reached the group there were only a few looks towards them before those present returned to their previous topics. With their departure being this close, most were quite happy and had started talking about their plans for when they reached the new continent.

“This reminds me, you never told me why you planned to travel to the dragon peaks. While yes, it is the home of the Solar dragons this should be of little interest to you. There lives neither an ascended dragon nor do they have any known way to travel to other dimensions. Only the regions high mana concentration would come to mind, but there are other such regions where you wouldn't have to share with other dragons?” Allaire asked him after a few minutes.

“Yes, but these regions have other factions. While they are weaker than the dragons, there I wouldn't have to bother with attackers.”

“But there I could accompany you.” She said with a sulky voice.

“And who said you couldn't accompany me to the dragon peaks?” He asked in confusion, something that in turn confused Allaire.

“Whenever the dragon peaks are mentioned, it says that while others are allowed to stay for a short while, only a dragon would be able to stay indefinitely.” Her answer made Darganth chuckle softly.

“While that is true, the day a mere Solar dragon dares to send away my mate is the day their entire species dies.” This made Allaire gasp in surprise. While he had told her that Solar dragons were only average among high tier dragon species, they were still the most powerful group she knew about. Seeing her look that demanded more details from her, he created a sound isolation barrier around them.

“The reason I want to go there is that these peaks are inhabitant by another group of dragons. While also a high tier species, they are quite a lot more influential and powerful.” This knowledge shocked her. Even just one person seeing them would lead to this knowledge being passed around rather fast and while the beast continent was the most isolated one, the Supreme clans still held contact to the outside. This meant that they were either never spotted by an outsider or none of those who did survived.

“I still don't understand why you want to visit them? Or are you going to tell me that there is an ascended dragon living in this world, a world where gods dye within months of ascending? She joked. Noticing him to not react her shock grew.

“You want to tell me that there lives an ascended dragon somewhere in the dragon peaks? How do you even know if he is here, just because some dragons of the same species are here?”

“While yes, there is a possibility that he isn't here, due to the Locis Clans nature this is highly unlikely. The times where their species was scattered more than a few lone individuals traveling can be counted at one hand. And even if he isn't here, I would still go visit them, after all they belong to the same lineage as me.”

“Lineage?”

“Yes, they are a related species. Nearly all dragon species have others of the same lineage, with most being either a hybrid between two dragons of a different species or due to the dilution of the bloodline. The second case happens mostly when half dragons have a child with a true dragon of the species they descend from, resulting in a weaker version. One example of the second are the Solar dragons. They are descended from Star dragons, one of the oldest species of dragons.

Of course most species belong to more than one lineage and there are other ways for a new species to appear, some even allowing the new one to be more powerful than its ancestors, but this covers the basics.” When he finished his explanation, she stayed silent for a while, processing the information.

“The how many other species belong to this lineage?” She asked after a while.

“That we share? One. They are called Tempust dragons, often referred to as the Tempust clan, and our lineage is known by many names. Most call it simply void lineage, but also prevalent are void born, void dragons and the great three. Most other names also reference the void in some way.”

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“While I would love to hear what this 'void' is, from what you just said it sound quite important and you already told me that you didn't want to tell me many details to what kind of dragon you are for now.”

“I have to thank you for that. And I promise that I will tell you everything at the very latest when we reach the dragon peaks.” Hearing his reassurance, Allaire nodded. While she wanted to ask many questions, she trusted him.

After this they simply sat in silence in each others arms while leaning against one of the camps barricades, keeping watch for any movements in the forest. After staying like this for a while, Darganth abruptly stood up. By now the works were nearly finished and currently the last few items were brought onto the ship, leading to most of the warriors diverted only a sliver of attention to the forest.

This action from him irritated Allaire, even more so when he instantly transformed back into his true form. She quickly realized that something was wrong, but her senses failed to pick anything up. When she refocused on Darganth, she noticed him to be slightly irritated. Snapping out of it, he turned to her.

“Warn the others that the basilisk is quite close. While I don't know how he did it, he somehow manages to evade my detection to a large extend. This means I cant find his exact location, making it hard to intercept him.”

When he finished these words, he flew up. While the nearby groups were far enough to be unable to hear their words, they noticed Darganth transforming and made their way to her. Hearing only the word 'basilisk' was enough for them to start warning the rest. After not even one minute, every third order tribesmen was around, while the second order ones started helping with the cargo.

“What is the plan chief?” One of them asked.

“Speed. We are currently in the process of loading on the last batch and then we just need to get everyone on board. Once that is the case, we are going to do as we had planned and give the ship and initial boost.”

Just as he finished, a loud explosion was heard just a few hundred meters into the forest. There Darganth was currently engaging the basilisk, something that proved more difficult than expected. Now that he wasn't able to accurately sense his opponent, Darganth was forced to use large scale magic as he couldn't rely on his eyesight. While he was confident in the ability of his scales to block the petrification, this wasn't the case with his general magic resistance.

Of course his flight still kept him out of reach for his opponent, but when neither could damage the other the basilisk would still be able to reach the tribe. Thinking for a second how to stall his opponent, Darganth stopped with his attacks. These large scale spells couldn't deal any meaningful damage anyways and the mana was better used for something else.

Lowering his altitude, he encased himself with earth aura while periodically sending out mana pulses. When these came into contact with solid matter, they would return to him and allow him to sense the surrounding. This allowed him a short window during which he would know of the basilisks position.

Using every pulse to get closer and gain a better understanding of the surrounding, he tried to initiate a melee fight. By the fourth pulse, he pounced onto his opponent. This caught the basilisk by surprise as he was quite sure that Darganth couldn't sense his exact location. Trying to evade in the last moment, the attack still left a deep gash on his left side.

Now that Darganth had become an opponent he couldn't ignore, the basilisk turned his head to him and struck out. Just as he was already sure that he would sink his fangs into his target, Darganth vanished, just to reappear a few meters in the air.

Not anticipating a teleport, his enemy couldn't react as Darganth fell down without trying to soften the fall. Due to their dense body, a dragon would weigh way more than most other species of a similar size. This high mass meant that Darganth's fall, while missing its head, crushed many bones in addition to the wounds his claws made.

Just as he touched the ground once more, Darganth noticed with his mana pulses that something flew towards him. Trying to dash out of the way, he failed to dodge the tree that the basilisk had catapulted towards him with its tail. Crashing against him, the tree shatters but also throws Darganth's balance off. Before he managed to regain balance, the basilisk already struck, aiming its fangs towards his heart.

While they pierced his scales, hide and flesh, his ribcage managed to divert the attack. While such a strike would have been lethal to most, the mana hearts importance meant that it was one of, if not the most protected area in a dragons body. This lead to the basilisks fangs being diverted by the ribcage and only inflicting a flesh wound.

Furious over the wound he received, Darganth swung his claw towards his opponents eye. This forced the basilisk to retreat and gave him some more room, something that he used to start his counterattack. Relentlessly swinging his claws at the basilisks face, Darganth started pushing his enemy back. His attacks were chained perfectly, with his entire body behind each strike, leaving no chance for a counterattack.

This made it impossible for the basilisk to escape this assault, forcing it to endure the growing amount of wounds. Its snake body prohibited any movements backwards and any sideways movement would expose it to a large amount of attacks. This continued for nearly two minutes, until the basilisks wounds started to become dangerous.

While its large size compared to Darganth meant that these wounds were still quite a bit away from any vitals, with Darganth's strikes tearing out large chunks of flesh this slowly changed. Realizing it had to do something, the basilisk decided to take a risk. While it knew that its opponent was far heavier and stronger than normal for its size, it would still try and force its way through.

Pulling its head back the last bit it could without falling over, the basilisk sprang forwards, right into Darganth. Its body height of four meters and the mass coming with this were in the past enough to plunge through masses of humanoids. But against Darganth, this move showed only a fraction of power compared to those fights.

Crashing into him, the basilisk and Darganth were both thrown to the side. While this worsened his previous wound, the basilisk was not much better than him. While it managed to free itself from the relentless attacks, its body was still left completely unprotected.

“How are you even more powerful than me? No beast or man ever managed to stand against me on equal ground.” It hissed.

“Because you are not the only being of a higher rank species.” Darganth's words shocked the basilisk. Never before had it met another beast that could talk besides his parents. Even they were only there for a few days, leaving it fending for itself with the words 'This is the way of our kind'.

“How can you talk?”

“For the same reason as you. Every third rank species has this ability and there are none around here.” While he normally wouldn't converse wit his opponents, he was well aware that they both couldn't fight each other any longer. This was the perfect way to stall the basilisk a while longer and keep it from the tribe.

“But I never evolved. The humans said that beasts would evolve at least at every new rank?”

“Yes, but you are still at the peak of the second rank. Your parents were third rank beings, meaning your species is a third rank species even when you yourself are only at the second. Have you never noticed that you are stronger than beasts at the same level?”

“Yes, but I always thought I was still a first rank. Is that why you can fight me? You are also of a higher ranked species?” To this Darganth nodded.

“Then why have I never found others? I fought thousands, beasts far stronger than you, and the first other beast of a higher species I find is a lizard without even any abilities.” At this Darganth let out a snarl.

“Never call me a lizard again or place me on the same level as you beasts, do you understand! I am a dragon, even the weakest species of my kind are mythical rank creatures, something far above you.” At his fury the basilisk winced slightly. Then it remembered one of the few things its parents have told it.

'Once you have to survive on your own, remember this: Never attack a dragon. They are creatures that would eradicate an entire species just because one of them was annoyed by it. Once you realize you are fighting one of them, just run and hope that they don't bother with you.' Recalling its parents words made the basilisk wary. While the creature in front of it was far from the terror it was told about, it knew that every creature would be small after its birth, even dragons. Realizing its opponents nature, it turned to flee.

“I will remember you. You may be equal to me now, but I will show you the difference between me and a lizard.” Saying these words, Darganth cast a tracking spell on the basilisk that would allow him to follow it for years. While he would normally ignore it once it escaped, he didn't plan to let this basilisk be the first creature to call him a lizard and get away with it.

Once he was sure that the basilisk had left the area, he flew back towards the ship. From quite far he could already see that they had already pushed it off from shore, so he directly made his way there. Still above the deck, he transformed himself into his humanoid form before using the gravity magic, an advanced application of space magic, to slow his fall.

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