36 Chapter 36 - Transforming the Continen
Zaro looked deeply into the eyes of the helpless boar which caused the wounded creature to stumbled backward, worried about what would happen next. It felt quite odd, a living thing was on the verge of dying and he felt no remorse or hesitation to go for the kill. Although he was no longer human it didn't necessarily mean that he had completely forgotten about his previous life. Zaro sighed and looked towards the ground in annoyance, he was still human at heart and as much as he didn't care about killing other creatures it didn't make it right. During the time he spent in this world, all he had been doing was killing other creatures for his own personal gain until he discovered a pillar of creation which had given him another goal to work towards. Getting stronger was one thing but there was probably a more efficient way to do that without spending time killing hundreds.
The boar was clearly frightened for its life, it understood that the only way to win would be to repel any attack coming towards it but even then it was unsure whether it would survive - especially since Zaro was about the same size as it. However, none of that mattered as Zaro shook his head sorrowfully and walked off towards where Lidya was, alarming the boar. It stood there startled until finally, it had realized what had happened.
"Where are you going?!" He roared.
Zaro stopped and turned his head to face the creature and sighed once more, "I have other things to do, go live your life, become stronger, then maybe one day we will meet again." With that, he walked away but the boar remained in its place out of confusion and disbelief that a wolf would just leave its prey.
Lidya was where he left her and it seemed that she was awake but still a bit dizzy after confronting a monstrous boar. Without much concern for her health, Zaro picked her up with his teeth and place the Elatus casually on his back before walking off again. Despite how intimidating he was she didn't seem worried about it and gripping onto his back immediately.
"You didn't kill it?" She asked. The boar stayed in the same spot Zaro left it and in the same position. She inspected it's wound and despite all of the blood, there was no fatal injuries but instead a few annoying scars that would end up being a pain in the future. "Where are we going now?" She asked trying to ignore the fact that the boar was still alive.
"I have a few ideas in mind but I am not sure where to locate them... however, I have something we can do on the side while we go looking." Zaro looked down in thought as he carried Lidya through the wilderness.
"What is it that you have in mind, wolf?" Lidya asked. She had never heard of a wolf that was filled with ideas. The natural instinct of a wolf was to protect its territory and hunt down other creatures for its own survival, even since the mutation of all beasts happened, the basic instincts were just heightened.
"This world... it's filled with nothing but nomads, other than the animal territories inside the forests, every creature walks around aimlessly, even the humanoids. There are so many terrifying creatures out there and there are many species that are unable to protect themselves alone..."
"A wolf caring about the misery of others? Are my ears deceiving me?" Lidya chuckled in disbelief, "It sounds unreasonable... no one will choose to settle in a single location! It just creates a target for passing beasts to raid."
"That is true, but there are several ways to hunt, some creatures make themselves seem vulnerable only to retaliate shortly after being attacked and consume their victims. The more raids, the more resources creatures can live on, we can transform this-" Zaro suddenly went blank and felt his surroundings change. Time seemed to have stopped and Zaro could feel strange energy around him, it felt soothing, enjoyable and he could feel his mind repeating the sentence he was just going to say, "We can transform this continent, and create a new way of life."
"Create a new way of life... you are a very wise creature, wolf, however, don't meddle in the business of other entities or it could lead to your own demise."
"Not if I become stronger, then nothing could destroy me!" Zaro roared startling Lidya and a familiar crane that seemed to be resting not too far away, "Hold on tight!" he growled and immediately broke into a sprint. The crane was injured so it had problems lifting off of the ground and only managed to fly a few meters into the air before Zaro closed in on it.
"Could it be that the reason I was sent to this world is to bring order to the beasts here? I also feel as though the crane was a gift for me, after realizing my purpose here." Zaro thought to himself as he approached the bird with incredible speed.
"Time to claim my last treasure!" Zaro roared while pouncing onto the crane and latching onto it with his claws while it hovered in the air. The Crane was, unfortunately, was a dark elemental one and immediately exploded as black matter spiraled from where his claws attacked and the bird appeared a few meters away. Zaro clenched his jaw in frustration and exploded into a dark matter of his own and used the crane's own shadow as leverage to pounce once more towards it.
Lidya had, of course, fallen off of the wolf in amazement and luckily managed to land onto the ground unharmed. She watched as the crane vanished once more only to have Zaro repeat his last trick and near it once again, however, the same thing happened once more and she watched in awe as the wolf used the shadows of the crane as a staircase. The two continued high into the sky until the crane decided that it was time to dive down to the ground with the wolf shortly behind since he didn't have much choice that high up in the sky.
Despite nearing the ground at alarming speeds, Zaro remained calm and aimed straight for the bird and was preparing himself for a possible counter to its next move. Moments before the two collided against the ground, Zaro exploded again and appeared on top of the crane, which had done the same. After having anticipated the crane's movement, Zaro drove the bird's skull into the ground before teleporting forward once more and clawed at the empty air. Luckily for him, the crane had decided to do the same and taking a fatal blow to its back. The claws ripped through it's back and ripped out some feathers and a nice chunk of flesh.
The crane screeched loudly and slumped onto the ground hoping to recover even a bit after the blow, but Zaro wasn't merciful anymore, he may have let the Aelfs and the boar live but this crane was going to die. His fangs lunged forward and snapped onto the crane's neck ripping it apart instantly and severing the head from the body. A final screech singled the end of the hunt, the wolf stood victorious, his face covered in the blood of the bird. After killing the crane, he flipped the body and tore out the core before eating it without even refining the gem into a pill.
As he consumed the core he could feel the dark energy filled his body and his muscles begin to bulge under the power of the gem. Taking a deep breath, he could feel black smoke fill his lungs and billow from his mouth and nose as the dark essence filled his core. Lidya approached the wolf cautiously and watched with her jaw dropped down to the ground as the wolf consumed the crane's elemental core. She could suddenly see glowing black matter surround him in spirals, smoke billowing crazily from his mouth, and his eyes shot out a ray of white light.
"Is he awakening his core?!" Lidya gasped and couldn't believe her eyes, his body was transforming as his muscles became bigger and his fur was becoming darker along with his claws which had three white symbols forming on each one. The black matter around him seemed to also have these white symbols which circled his body and spun wildly, while some exploded mid-air. Each symbol was actually a word in the ancient language which Lidya knew only a little of... however, she knew they all contained a lot of power behind them.