Arthur hit the Mountain side like a storm with a new found sense of urgency, he didn't have before. It had taken him what felt like three days to traverse the plain as he headed towards the Mountain. though without a clear passage of day and night in this world he couldn't be certain.
What spurred him on was Ra. Arthur was crossing the vast plane across his wind comment, enjoying the beauty of the world of Arebos and the feel of energy currents as they flowed about his spirit body when the titan casually chose tto reveal to Arthur that time did not flow uniformly within worlds.
And since Ra had never actually been in any world and had only peered into them from the void, l he couldn't really tell Arthur how relative time flowed in this world from Terros.
'For all we know, your hero could experience a year of his life while you experience but a day here,' The titan had joked but Arthur did not find find any humor in his words.
Ten years. That's the number of years From the time the hero truly Awakened to the descent of the Demon king into Terros. It had taken the hero ten years to cultivate the kind of power he had, and it wasn't enough to defeat the demon king.
Arthur had been thinking about how he was going to help the Hero all this time. He realized that simply appearing before the hero and telling him about the Demon king is not enough to affect anything. At worst, the Hero would have no reason to believe him as he would be a stranger and send him away. Arthur had realized that plan might not amount to anything.
His best bet was to get close to the Hero and find ways to guide him to greater strength!
To face the Demon king, the Hero had to go beyond the Pinnacle of power he had achieved and reach a whole new level. A level capable of fighting the Demon king.
Even if the Demon king can read fate, If Fate shows him an Arthur that could threaten him, them he might hesitate to continue his invasion. The demon king was not Omnipotent. Arthur chose to believe that, otherwise He wouldn't need over a century to finally step onto Terros.
But for Arthur's gambit to work, Arthur needed all the time he could get with the hero. He was lucky to have died just when the hero was awakening.
If Ra did not know how time flow varied then Arthur could not spend it leisurely. He had pushed his wind comet to the fastest he could will it and streaked across the plane to reach the Mountain.
The mountain rose in a vast, unending slope, stretching ever upward as though the closer one drew, the farther its peak retreated. Its surface was alive with jagged rocks, sheer cliffs, and towering spirit trees that clung to its body like ancient sentinels. A colossal mass of earth essence, dense and immeasurable. Endless currents of spirit energy coiled around it, winding and pulsing like living veins.
Arthur knew he couldn't scale it in one day even as the winds carried him.
Not to mention this mountain was home to various strong spirit beasts who would see him as an intruder. He had learnt that spirit trees accumulated spirit energy within and it condensed it spirit fruits. Those fruits were valued treasures among spirit beings and spirit beasts guarded their Territories jealously. They would attack him mercilessly.
There was no avoiding battle.
As his comet approached the base of the mountain, the first attack came.
At the slopes of the Mountain was a series of Giant trees, glowing with a bluish hue Within each tree was a Giant nest that Housed a Great Spirit bird. They were all Spirit lords with advanced perception. They sensed A concentration of spiritual power heading their way. An intruder!
Each tree had precious fruit claimed by bird that nested upon it and in the center of their dwelling was a pond of spiritual essence that the birds used for Nourishment. Only a few days ago they had feasted upon a pack of tigers from the planes. Trespassers eho thought they could claim their habitat. Now they sensed another presence approaching.
The leader of the flock Roused the Spirit birds and they rose out of their nests to greet the intruder. They would tear him to pieces and add his core to their pool!
A thunderous screech split the air, followed by a violent gust of essence. About 10 large spirit birds emerged from the Mountain side, above Arthur.
Spirit hawks, each wingspan as wide as a car, feathers, talons and sharp beaks edged in crackling lightning. Their eyes burned sapphire with intelligence, their spirit cores visible as pulsing deep blue orbs beneath translucent chests. Their presence made the essence electric and halted Arthur, floating in his gale of essence under them.
The Record of Ra graced his vision at their sight.
{ RACE: Spirit Beast
SPIRIT RANK: Spirit Lord
SPIRIT ENERGY RANK: C
AFFINITY: Wind and lightning. }
They were the same Rank as Arthur but his spirit energy Rank was higher. They did not stand on ceremony, having spotted the Intruder, they attacked. The flock dove as one, talons outstretched like living spears.
Arthur Raised his hand towards the sky and a wave of spirit energy tore upwards engulfing his attackers. Then the sky detonated. Fire and force erupted at once from the very space the birds flew in, the ambient essence itself turned into a bomb. violent flames blossomed outwards in a sphere, swallowing wings and feathers.
But these were lord ranked birds they would not go down easily. They scattered across the sky, leaving the explosion with minor damage.
Exactly as Arthur had planned.
His cacoon of wind surged forward carrying him like a launched blade towards the furthest bird.
A spear of fire was already woven in his hand, its sword length tip burning white with compressed heat.
He closed the distance in an instant.
Then struck. He went for the core, willing the spear to pass through the Giant beast and explode within. The bird screamed as it experienced his death. And the rage filled screeching of the other nine assaulted him.
His second kill! They had attacked first!
Currents of essence around Arthur turned to lightning as three birds dived towards him. He pushed against the electric energy using his wind cacoon to sheild himself.
One bird spat out an huge orb of condensed lightning towards Arthur as the other two reached towards him, Talons and Beak first.
Arthur wrapped the ball of electricity in a cacoon of energy and directed it at the first bird and raised his hand toward the second bird.
The ball of lightning exploded in the beak of the first and a wave of fire consumed the second bird.
As the third bird came closer, with the rest of the flock in tow, The air exploded again! The two birds closest to him did not survive it!
Arthur sped away from the explosion, two birds on his tail. He wove two very long spears of flame and sent them in their direction. They dodged easily, keeping at their pursuit. As they closed in on him, they screeched in agony as the spears pierced their backs right into their cores and detonating within them.
The five remaining birds broke away at once, each veering in a different direction as they spread across the sky and formed a wide circle around Arthur. They did not rush him. They positioned themselves with intent, tightening their formation until the space around him was sealed.
Essence gathered and turned electric, threads of power weaving together as a dome of lightning formed around him, enclosing him within a crackling cage. Above him, a thundercloud condensed rapidly, thick and heavy, its core churning as it drew in the energy from the cage below.
Arthur pushed against the electric waves assaulting him in the dome as the charge built to its peak.
Then the lightning came.
A bolt tore down from the cloud with blinding speed, aimed straight for him. Arthur's cocoon shifted at once, the wind and essence folding inward and hardening into a golden shield that met the strike head on. The lightning crashed into it with full force, the impact shaking his entire frame as the energy spread across the surface of the shield, pressing against it without breaking through as he fueled more energy into it.
The force drove him downward, the pressure immense, his essence straining as he held the defense.
Then it ended.
Arthur stood unharmed, but the cost was clear. His core had dropped to less than half, his essence drained heavily from the single exchange.
The birds continued their movement, circling him without pause, maintaining the electric cage as the thundercloud above began to charge again. The dome crackled with renewed intensity, feeding power upward as the cloud thickened, preparing another strike.
Arthur did not want to find out how many bolts he could survive.
He moved. His cocoon shifted and ignited, wind and essence feeding into flame as his entire form transformed into a comet of fire. The flames wrapped tightly around him, dense and forceful, trailing behind as he launched himself toward the nearest bird.
He collided with the lightning cage.
The barrier resisted him instantly, arcs of electricity lashing into his body as he forced his way through. His flames flickered under the strain, his armored skin disintegrating into motes of essence where the lightning struck, but he did not stop. He pushed through the resistance and broke out of the cage in a burst of fire.
He struck the bird before it could react.
The impact was direct and overwhelming as his comet of flames collided with it mid flight. Arthur seized it immediately with essence, his cocoon reforming around them and locking the creature in place. Essence tightened, sealing it within his grasp as he forced the flames inward.
He set the entire bird on fire. Flames concentrated around the bird, burning only it as the heat intensified. The creature thrashed violently, its wings beating against the cocoon as it screamed, its body scorching under the focused flames.
Arthur held it there and did not let it escape.
The other birds reacted at once. They abandoned their formation and rushed him together, their control over the cage breaking as they moved to intercept him.
Arthur released the burning body as it collapsed into fragments of light and turned to face them.
Dozens of fireballs formed around him, each one dense and controlled, hovering for only a moment before he sent them forward toward the incoming flock.
The birds scattered, breaking formation again as they dodged the initial wave, slipping between the projectiles with sharp, precise movements.
But the fireballs did not vanish. They held and tracked the birds, adjusting their paths as they followed their targets through the air. One detonated, the blast catching a bird mid movement and throwing it off balance, and the explosion triggered the rest.
A chain of detonations tore across the sky.
The fireballs ignited one after another, overlapping blasts of flame and force that filled the air with continuous explosions. The sky was awash with fire, the shockwaves colliding and spreading as the birds screeched and darted through the chaos, trying to avoid the blasts.
Arthur moved within it. He wove through the explosions, his speed carrying him between bursts of fire as his cocoon shifted constantly to deflect heat and force. He closed the distance through the chaos, his movements sharp and controlled as he pressed the attack.
A bird broke through the explosions toward him.
Arthur met it head on, a spear of fire forming in his hand and driving forward in the same motion. The weapon pierced clean through its body, the force carrying him past it as body burst into flames from the inside as the spear exploded.
Another came from above, diving through the fading blasts.
Arthur turned and released a wave of flame that caught it mid descent, the impact tearing through its wings and sending it crashing down through the burning air.
The last two tried to regroup, pulling back from the chaos to regain their formation. Arthur did not allow it.
He surged forward again, cutting through the fading explosions and closing the distance before they could stabilize. His flames sharpened, his attacks direct and unrelenting as he pressed into them.
One fell to a precise strike through the chest, the spear forming and landing in a single motion before the bird could react.
The final bird tried to break away and escape the burning sky.
Arthur followed without hesitation. He caught it before it could gain distance, his speed overwhelming it as he closed in and formed one last spear of fire. The strike was clean and decisive, ending it instantly as its body broke apart into drifting fragments of essence.
The sky fell silent.
The flames faded slowly, leaving only drifting embers and fragments of spirit energy in their wake.
Arthur hovered for a moment, his cocoon settling back into a steady flow around him as his breathing slowed, his core nearly drained.
Then he turned his golden gaze upward. Towards the great Mountain. His climb had just begun.