Birth of the Demonic Sword

The heroic cultivators of the Hive resumed the exploration of the piece of Immortal Lands after the presence of the rank 5 Giant sandworms made the desert impossible to inhabit.

The group needed to find a safe place where to set the teleportation matrix, they didn't have any way to return to the Coral archipelago at the moment, creating that connection was their priority.

They went north, along the coastline, the desert expanded for a few kilometers before being replaced with small rivers that favored the birth of some vegetation.

The group soon discovered though that the rivers were inhabited by packs of rank 4 Poisonous frogs that had tainted that environment with their toxic saliva, altering many of the magical plants there.

Elder Laurel's eagerness to study those plants was clearly shown by her expression but Elder Hope didn't stop flying, there would be plenty of time to study the lifeforms living there after the teleportation matrix was set.

A thick forest followed the area with rivers, small trees with large crowns occupied the environment, their white leaves gave an eerie atmosphere to the area.

"These are White woods, they are magical plants that release toxins in the air to kill any living beings that enter their range. They then let the corpses nourish the terrain from which they take their nourishment. This place can work!"

Elder Laurel spoke but a series of confused gazes were shot in her direction.

Even Noah felt confused, she had just said that the air around them was toxic, how could that area be suitable for the creation of a foothold?

Yet, he didn't feel any threat coming from those trees, even his dragon's instincts didn't sense anything.

"The toxins of the White woods become more powerful when the trees are starving or when they are attacked, the air is virtually clean now since the terrain is rich of nourishments. This area is perfect as long as we don't affect the vegetation."

Elder Laurel explained.

The terrain of the piece of Immortal Lands was filled with "Breath", the amount of nourishment that it provided was more than enough for those White woods, they simply didn't need to hunt thanks to that.

"This will do then. Elder Duke, Elder Morgan, begin the preparations for the teleportation matrix. Elder Laurel will assist you to be sure that your work doesn't affect the magical plants here. I and the Prince will explore the surrounding areas."

Elder Hope ordered and flew higher in the sky, Noah followed her while the other three elders went on the ground, immersing themselves in the white forest.

"Pick a direction."

Elder Hope spoke to Noah when he reached her, his consciousness spread in the surrounding area and his reptilian eyes analyzed the environment far in the distance but he couldn't find anything peculiar.

"East."

In the end, Noah simply chose the direction that would bring him deeper into the continent.

"Good, I'll go back on the desert and explore the southern coast, let's meet here in five days."

Elder Hope ordered and began to fly south to return to the desert where they had met the rank 5 Giant sandworm.

Noah sighed internally when he saw that the leader trusted his abilities to the point of leaving him exploring alone, his knowledge about the magical beasts' field earned him that recognition.

'Feels good to be finally alone…'

Noah took a deep breath and the air around him darkened after that gesture.

His gaze went toward the depths of the continent, he knew that the three big nations had most likely found traces of divine beings on that land, the Hive couldn't confirm it but the behavior of those forces made it almost a certainty.

Also, now that he was alone, he could use his full strength.

Noah kicked the air under his feet and a shockwave resounded in the area, his figure disappeared in an instant only to reappear in the sky after the forest of White woods.

A plain expanded after the forest, azure bushes grew from the terrain.

The bushes seemed to contain an incredible amount of "Breath" so Noah did a quick inspection of the area before diving in the plain.

Roars resounded in the plain as soon as his presence was noticed, a pack of rank 4 Saber-toothed tigers exited its lair and charged toward his descending figure.

Noah felt his dragon's part rejoice when he saw that magical beasts dared to fight him while he was in the air, a smile appeared on his face and a challenging roar came out of his mouth as he continued to descend toward the azure bushes.

Noah's roar scared most of the tigers which slowed down their charge, their legs trembled when they felt the might of the creature behind that cry.

Yet, another roar resounded in the plain and a rank 4 Saber-toothed tiger in the upper tier appeared in the open and fixed its gaze on Noah who had just landed on the azure ground.

Noah heard the tiger's cry and knew that his challenge had been accepted.

The upper part of his robe was stored inside his space-ring as Noah walked on the plain, nearing what seemed the leader of the pack, the creature walked past the weaker tigers of its pack as it prepared itself to charge at Noah.

'I'm near the peak of the middle tier while this tiger is in the upper tier… I don't feel threatened at all.'

Noah thought as he continued to walk toward the leader, he felt completely confident in fighting that beast alone.

However, Noah had no intention of using his human centers of power, he wanted to face the beast with his body alone!

The tiger charged Noah, the ground trembled every time the leader increased its speed but, to Noah, it seemed simply too slow.

He patiently waited for the tiger to reach him, the beast jumped just before arriving in his position and spread its maws as it fell toward him.

It was at that point that Noah's arms shot upward and reached for the two curved canines of the beast, his hands squeezed the fangs as he tried to stop the charge of the beast with his sheer strength!

Of course, being in the upper tier put that creature at the peak of the fourth rank, its physical strength wasn't something that could be stopped easily.

Noah held still as he felt the overwhelming power pushing him back, the terrain under his legs crumbled, creating holes in the ground as he tried to stop the charge.

Noah was pushed back for dozens of meters but his hands never left the fangs, two large trails were dug on the ground by his legs as he tried to stop himself.

It took almost one hundred meters for the power behind the charge of the beast to be depleted, Noah could finally raise his head after his foothold became stable, he revealed a smile at the angry tiger that had its fangs still stuck in his hands.