True Spirits

The chicken screeched in humiliation. The spears of the respective elements began to tremble and shattered.

Crawling out from the debris, the chicken clucked and released an aura of the color of copper. Angrily snapping, it advanced towards the four, its aura growing thicker and stronger with every step.

Fang frowned.

'What is it doing?' he thought.

[Spiritual Power techniques that massively increase it's power]

[Anti-Possession techniques that take the spirits from the surroundings and force them into servitude]

[Potential Burning techniques that waste all of it's potential in one go]

[This... chicken... is using a combination of the three to explosively increase it's power and try to fight you all...]

"..."

'Is it retarded?'

[Apparently]

Fang frowned again. This was clearly a problem. That stupid maniacal chicken...

The chicken squawked again. Cawing with a wild abandon, it released a tyrannical aura. It spread throughout the mountain, filling creatures with dread. A faint silhouette of a phoenix could be seen, outlined above it.

Fang blinked and the four animals stepped forward.

"Oh this'll be fun," Hebi spoke, his smooth and silky voice.

Toru laughed.

"It's been a while," Suzume crowed.

"Indeed it has," Gendu spoke quietly.

Energy began swirling from their bodies and they swayed along with the wind.

"It's high time that we revealed our true forms," Toru spoke.

Gendu nodded.

"Yeah! Hey Fang, don't get scared or anything!" Suzume chirped.

Fang merely smiled to himself.

There was a loud boom and the animals shed their smaller forms.

Toru grew in size and became an enormous white tiger. Sleek, black stripes decorated his back as his moon white skin glinted in the sun. His shining black claws clacked on the ground, tapping impatiently as if waiting for his prey. Topaz eyes glittered in his orbits. Saliva dripped from his fangs and his bristly silver tongue slurped around. He smiled evilly at the chicken and snapped his teeth together. Exuding a sharp metallic aura, he stood at the ready. Crouching down, he gazed into the pseudo-phoenix's eyes.

Gendu grew into an enormous turtle, with a large black serpent wrapped around it. His shell became a dark green with small spikes jutted out from it. His skin grew tougher and scaly while his beak became sharper and less pronounced. Small fangs jutted out from the beak, giving it a serrated edge. The snake around his stomach was black and scaly with sharp fangs and red eyes. Venom dripped from these fangs and the serpent swayed hypnotically. Gendu gave off a pressuring aura as if one was being pulled down into a whirlpool. His glowing green eyes did all the talking for him as he snorted and stamped his foot.

Suzume burst into flame, expanding into a majestic bird. Engulfed in flame, it slowly opened his red eyes. The flame burst outwards and Suzume screeched, flying into the air. Crimson feathers with a gold polish decorated its wings, which spanned three boat lengths. Its beak was golden in color and shot out jets of flame. His wings burst into flame and flapped furiously, creating infernos that spread out in a wide radius.

Hebi closed its eyes and grew progressively taller with every breath. It grew into a large azure dragon with black horns. Silver fangs grew from his mouth and a powerful roar echoed through the valley. His claws were were powerful and large, able to slice a thick tree with a single flick. He gave off and aura of vitality and majesty. Smiling, he stared at the metallic chicken with turquoise eyes.

Fang simply smiled. This chicken was done for.

On the other side, the chicken began squawking again. How dare these pitiful life forms go against it! Raging, it rushed towards the four divine beasts.

Suzume, Toru, Gendu, and Hebi opened their mouths and fired off a basic elemental blast. There was a boom and the chicken was obliterated within seconds, leaving no trace.

The divine beasts laughed and reverted to their tinier forms, congratulating themselves for a job well done. Fang approached the celebrating animals and nodded. Then, excusing himself, he made his way back to the house.

'What the hell!?!?' he thought, scared out of his mind at the terrifying power of these beasts.

'I had no freaking clue that they were all this powerful!'

[They're not that powerful]

A voice sounded in his head. Fang frowned. Now it spoke up...

[They're not that powerful]

'... More powerful than I am for certain!'

[That's incorrect. You could easily destroy all of them working together with just a flick of your hand]

'...'

[I'm being serious here]

'I know... unfortunately...'

[...]

Fang sighed. Things were always so complicated and this was simply just a testament to that fact. Unfortunately, he could do nothing about it.

Lamenting his situation, Fang continued the journey home. Why was he afflicted with the most terrible of all curses?

Sighing and shaking his head, Fang walked up the mountain, brainstorming ways to get rid of this curse once and for all.

Within his mind, a shadowy presence stood, formless and essentially nonexistent.

'Is it time... to tell him yet?' a voice whispered.

This voice addressed the shadow figure, leaving Fang unaware of the communication going on in his head.

'No... not now... patience, my friend...' the shadow figure replied.

'We have been patient... for so long now...'

'I know...'

'Do you really understand our struggles? What hellish pain we've been through?'

'I do... I do...'

'You don't understand whatsoever... while you roam around here, the rest of us are dying and suffering in other hellish places...'

'I know... our race has never liked servitude...'

'All we must do... all we must accomplish... in the hands of a boy?'

'He will learn. He will improve. Give him time...'

'Not much of that precious commodity is left...'

'I know... just wait a little while longer and everything will be as according to plan...'

'Just a little longer... no more...'

The other voice drifted off as the shadow presence floated within the dark aether of Fang's conscious.

'Hurry up boy... a storm is coming...'