"You'll have the snake by tomorrow," Corven nodded, before leaving without another word, leaving both the customer and the shopkeeper stunned.
Corven led Cimon to a quiet part of the shopping villa, where he pulled out a mysterious scroll from his shadow space — It was a cultivation scroll that would help him cultivate his affinity of darkness and shadow. He had bought it before entering the Armor shop earlier. It was very expensive, costing Corven 200 crescent platinum coins just to buy, but, considering that he knew the rarity of the item as, according to Cimon, not many cultivators have an affinity to darkness nor shadow, Corven was willing to spend money for the damn thing.
As he pulled it from his shadow space, he simply touched it as its information entered his mind. He then sat cross legged on a bench and began to cultivate, following its instructions he had memorized.
Cimon, seeing what he was doing, said nothing. He was initially surprised that Corven had chosen to cultivate there, as, though quiet and nearly empty, there was still the occasional customer walking past, plus there was the fact that he had only touched the scroll once and had not opened it, but Cimon figured Corven had his reasons, plus, he had long guessed Corven must have had an ability that would help him retrieve the information of anything he touches — He was certain as it was the only explanation.
Not wanting to disrupt his focus or cultivation, Cimon, too, sat cross legged and joined his endeavor. He was curious if he'd be Cimon and skip a rank or two or not, so he watched his friend, and, sure enough, the aura coming off of Corven started off at Average rank, completely skipping Poor, before rising, gradually, skipping through High and Special and entering Legacy, for stopping at the high level of Legacy rank.
[A/N: For every cultivation stage, there are four steps of phases: Low, Mid, High and Peak. For example, right now, Corven is at the High-level Legacy Rank.].
Cimon was beyond awe-struck. He knew Corven would skip a few tiers of powers, but, to reach the rank of Legacy on his first time cultivating was unheard of. Even Cimon had only skipped the first three level on his first time cultivating into a Legacy at the age of 8, and into Demigod at the age of 14 — But to skip Poor, Average, High and Special and step directly into the high levels of Legacy from the start? Cimon was certain that Corven's father, whoever he was, had to be a powerful god, maybe even a primordial!
Corven on the other hand was getting used to the power coursing through his mana veins[A/N: Mana veins are the invisible streams of power that allows cultivators to use their abilities and skills.]. He felt like he could do almost anything with the strength he was feeling. His strength, speed, agility and his perception were all greater than he last could ever remember being able to feel, ever. If he looked under his own clothes, he'd find that the thin- below weight, lanky boy he once was, was gone. In it's place, there were an athlete's build, better than any Olympic athlete could dream of; it was still lean, but with more muscle than before. His chest had become more robust and refined, fitting tightly to the black dress shirt Corven was wearing. His biceps were thicker, much more muscled than before as were his triceps, which were triple the size whatever size they were that morning. His forearm were thick and veiny and even lower body was lined with muscle, including his legs, calves and six pack. Corven was, essentially, a new man.
As hr turned to a slightly staring Cimon, he asked "Are you ready?"
With a nod, Cimon stood up, summoning his steed, and Corven summoned his own Eclipse. They flew east, towards a vast, very dark forest with towering trees and untold dangers. They continued this path, using their spiritual senses often to get a read on their environment below, though the highest monster they picked up on so far was a Tier C[3].
Corven had other reasons for wanting to kill this Tier A Great Snake beast — He wanted to create a second shadow. He was not entirely sure what his limit was when regarding making these shadows, but, if earlier-s events told him anything, it was that strength in this world of cultivation was everything, and might made right. If someone was stronger than you, they could kill you and rob you and no one would bat an eye — They certainly didn't try to help Corven when Quiylan was trying to rob him of Eclipse, which Corven honestly did not care about. He just knew he needed to get strong, no matter what.
Atop Eclipse, Corven pulled his hands into a fist and inwardly swore 'I must get stronger!'
They were just flying a few hundred miles into Tier B beast territory when they spotted something interesting below: A series of collapsed and swayed trees, leading deeper into the forests, almost as if some big had slithered in that direction.
Locking eyes with Cimon, Corven share his nod, before the two sped off in that same direction with newly acquired rigor. They had their heading. It was time to face the beast. They were nearly there.
[Cimon Morpheus]:
The flew for a few more hours into the night, as they followed the seemingly unending, slithering trail of mud, fallen trees and the occasional batch of dead snake skin that were each the size of a train itself. Great Snakes were huge.
As they trekked ahead, Cimon became lost in thought. He'd heard of the Great Snake species, though he's never been fortunate enough to encounter one. They are the dominant descendants of the primordial sea serpent, Leviathan. They can be found in numerous places across the multiverse, though rare; the places they are found, they typically reign over whatever that place was with an iron fist.
It was suffice to say that Cimon wasn't too comfortable going into one's territory, though he was even less comfortable allowing Corven to go alone, which was why he decided to go with him.
Cimon did not understand it at first — the ancestral blood pact that compelled him to aid Corven. He knew, deep down, he'd had done it anyway, even without the blood pact — He was too close to Corven not have, so it was not like the blood pact was making him do something that he didn't already want to do. And he was certain he could disobey the blood pact, it just would not be entirely pleasant to do so, but it was possible. His father, the god, Hypnos, would tell him that his ancestors, along with many other houses that served under House Umbrovante in the Shadow Realm and outside it, made a sacred pledge of subservience and allegiance – a blood pact — to House Umbrovante upon the sacred of River Styx[4] The action cemented their loyalty to House Umbrovante, essentially for eternity.
So, now, in tip of the natural urge to protect his friend, Cimon was feeling a bloodline compulsion to help Corven with whatever it was he needed help with. Yet, Cimon was oddly unconcerned by the situation of the compulsion. He had a strong bond with Corven, long before he felt the compulsion activate on his 15th birthday, a day or two prior, when he activated his bloodline.
"What do we know about Great Snakes?" Corven's dead voice knocked Cimon from his thoughts.
Corven was becoming more and more emotionless lately, Cimon noticed. He was willing to kill, evev, and he also picked up on it during the fight with Quiylan and his gang. And, though that wasn't unheard of — cultivators killing one another — Cimon was worried if Corven was changing into something else or if his bloodline was taking over his psyche. In the cultivating world of legacies, gods and monsters, it was universally known that strength made right, and more often than not, a powerful parentage of a powerful god often meant that the kid's soul would have to adapt to a weaker body, often sacrificing something when awakening their powers — This was usually something the host could live without despite its great essentiality, like emotions, their sanity, sometimes their heal. Power, no matter the method of inheritance, always came at a cost, and, sometimes, that cost, so very, very great.
It was why Primordial Spawns — children of the primordials — were more often than not ridiculed in their world — They typically end up insane and often times become destroyers of entire bloodlines and worlds because they become lost to their own powers and insanity. It was why Cimon hoped Corven wasn't a Primordial Spawn, but, at the same, he knew, it was likely that he was one, considering he skipped four and a half ranks of cultivation his first time cultivating.
"Cimon," Corven prompted, calmly.
"Right, sorry," Cimon apologized for his moment of distraction. "Great Snakes are the more dominating descendants of the primordial serpentess, Leviathan 000 Unlike snakes from other primordial serpent bloodlines, Great Snakes from Leviathan's bloodline has various species and abilities that most other serpent bloodlines don't have. Some have venomous fangs that cans shoot venom, while others have great strenth in their bodies and constricting abilities or have haronong scales that can make an ultimate defense. They can bond with cultivators to be summoned at will as familiars, but certain conditions need to be met, and more often than not, the process is highly unsuccessful due to the pride of Great Snakes."
Corven nodded his head in understanding. He was getting an idea of what he was getting himself into — He was just thinking up a plan when a commotion up ahead below caught their attention.
Looking ahead, Cimon saw the Great Snake they were after, tusselling with what looked like to be a flock of griffons.
The Great Snake was easily young from what Cimon could tell of it, barely reaching 30 feet long — It had have been a juvenile great snake. It reminded Corven of an eyelash palm pit viper in its appearance. It had scales as emerald as a sea of grass, with yellow-ish underbelly scales, an, above each of its eyes, there were a horn-like appendage crowning the serpent. Its fangs were like stalactites inside a cave, but its face was still quite young somehow, somewhere between juvenile and adolescent. It's green eyed lenses had a singular, yellow pupil in each of the eyes, acting as perfect thermo sight that many reptiles have the privilege of having, though not many were as excellent as a Great Snake, no doubt. Two slits made for the nose, and its two, black, venom-laced fangs seemed to be built into the meat of its mouth, making for a formidable sight to behold.
The aura of the serpent — Tier A — was the equivalent aura of Demigod ranked cultivator, though much more beastal and chaotic. If Cimon wasn't at the mid-level demigod rank, he'd have been forced to his knees when the beast released its aura. Corven, on the other hand, seemed possess a protect aura of shadows that mysteriously protected him passively from the aura that was still reaching them, even despite the distance away they were.
There were five griffons in this fight — three adult griffons, 8 feet long, with a 25 foot wingspan. They each had the head of an eagle, the body of a lion and the talons of an eagle on front two legs and the claws and paws of a lion on the hindlegs. There was one adolescent griffon as well as a cub griffon, barely juvenile and an egg, in the nest behind where the three adult griffons were defending against the great snake. From what Cimon could gauge from the fight so far, he figured out that the great snake had invaded the griffon's territory, likely to devour them and their nest, the the griffons were defending against it to protect their young.
The griffons might have been smaller, but they, too, were at the Tier A, just like the Great Snake. They held their own against the great snake, counter the serpent's attack by taking to the skies, before launching their own attack at soft spots in the snake's scales. Sadly, these soft spot attacks only seemed to annoy the serpent more than actually do any kind of lasting damage, much less dissuade the great snake's attack on their nest.
As their fight continued, Cimon and Corven observed from afar, hiding behind the canopy of giant, thick trees, where they landed their mounts as they watched the fight carry on. They pretty much figured out the situation already — The great snake pulled up to the nest of the Tier A griffons, likely wanting to gobble them down and the adults griffons left their nest to protect their home, leaving the adolescent griffon in charge of protecting their young.
It was the same story, really. When a new power wants dominion over a certain area, it goes after the power residing their. Cimon's heard the story a thousand times, and he's seen the story a thousand times.
But, as Cimon observed Corven, he couldn't get a read on how he was feeling nor what he was feeling as he watched the scene before them. He couldn't help but be curious of what he was thinking…
The snake had just managed to bite a griffon in half, before swallowing the beast whole when a second adult griffon, desperate and angry, likely the mother, slashed at the eye of the great serpent in retaliation. It would have been a fatal move for any other beast, except for this one, the great snake had a second , protective eyelid protecting it's eyes, closed over it, and, considering it was quite durable, the griffon's attack barely left a cut on the giant snake.
This gave the great snake the perfect opportunity to swallow this mother griffon whole. The snake then turned to the last adult griffon, eyes intent clear; it was planning to devour it completely, just like its brethren. It was going to go sleep fine tonight, with a full stomach and everything!
The snake also wasn't stupid. It sensed that this griffon was the strongest of the three adult griffons, easily at the high level of Tier A rank, while the serpent itself was at the low-level of the same Tier A rank. It had to be careful, it realized, as the griff soared, circling it in challenge. The griffon was ready to avenge its fallen brethren. It was going to kill this snake, even at the expense of its life.
But neither party got unleash their attack on the other. Before the snake could move onto the last griffon, or the griffon onto the snake, Corven's voice sounded next to Cimon. "Let's strike now, before it can swallow the third griffon. Go for the soft spots on its neck, eyes, nose and earholes!"
Corven took out his Legendary-ranked sword, Darkstar, from its sheath, and Cimon took out his Demigod-ranked spear, Dreamspire, intending to follow his lead as they both dived down from the skies, like gods of war, on mounts, in a swift and ferocious decent, their battle cry loud and echoing across the surrounding forest.