Chapter 162: Confrontation

The only way to describe the world before me was colorful. There was no sun in the sky, no moon. Instead, the sky was a multitude of colors. The sea I just emerged from was the same. Creatures of all sizes could be seen lazily swimming about beneath the surface. None seemed to care much for my presence.

I nervously gulped down. The landmass behind me was completely different from what I remembered. The myriad of colors was almost blinding. I anxiously activated my spirit vision only to yelp in pain. The light almost blinded me. I hastily turned it off and studied my surroundings with a heavy heart.

I could no longer sense my connection to the mana stream. This revelation made my heart thump loudly in my chest, yet I forcefully tried to calm and clear my thoughts. 'Calm down Aether, we already knew the astral plane existed before, it's only a matter of time before we leave," I tried to reassure myself.

'Besides, it's understandable if I can't sense the other elements. It's cosmic mana that brought me here in the first place!' With that in mind, I closed my eyes and attempted to reach out to the cosmic mana in my surroundings by creating a link with the one inside my soul space.

My attempt, however, was cut short as my scales tingled in alarm. Danger! I subconsciously dodged the incoming blow, diving headfirst. The sound of something cutting through the air resounded in my ears. I hastily turned around glaring at my assailant.

A medium-sized winged humanoid creature was standing in the air with a frown on its face. The creature had a face that would be considered beautiful by human standards. Her eyes were alluring emerald green. She didn't have arms, instead had wings that were equal shades of the same color.

My mind subconsciously thought of the name of a mythical creature. "A Harpy?" I muttered in surprise. The half-human, half-bird creature eyes me in suspicion before speaking in a high-pitched voice.

"What are you doing here little dragon?" She asked, slowly circling me in the air. My gaze never left hers as I frowned. Something didn't seem right. Although her size was significantly smaller than mine, the harpy showed no fear as she faced me. Knowing exactly what I was.

Quite the opposite, I was the one to feel the pressure. Her earlier sneak attack had almost caught me off guard. My instincts also gave off constant warning signals, and they were rarely wrong.

Ignoring her rude tone, I replied with a question of my own, "Who are you and why did you attack me?"

A chuckle escaped the harpy's lips as she studied me with an interested gaze. "Hehe, the skies are our domain little dragon. You should consider yourself lucky to still have your head attached,"

Hearing the blatant disrespect and provocation in her tone. My blood began to boil as rage threatened to overtake me. 'No, calm down. Think smart, she's doing it on purpose. She's provoking you. Deep breath Aether, deep breath, you are not Ynos who would jump headfirst into the fray. Think smart.'

"Oh-ho? And here I thought dragons were supposed to be prideful, I guess you missed out on that part heh?" Laughed the harpy, her annoying voice causing me to grit my teeth as I struggled to keep my anger at bay.

We both circled each other. I was still not aware of the full extent of her abilities, not to mention I still felt no connection to the mana stream. My eyes constantly studied our surroundings, her blatant provocations shouldn't be without aim.

'Is she alone? No, I doubt it. Then maybe that's what she's trying to do? Get on my nerves so I make a stupid move, then her companions wherever they are would pounce.'

Although I could not sense any other presence around us, my guard nonetheless remained up. I chose to trust my judgment and completely ignored the rude harpy. Taking a deep breath, I steadied my mind and patiently waited for them to make the first move.

I may be without mana, but that didn't mean I was hopeless. My body itself was a weapon. And I was sure that all I need is one good squeeze and that little bastard would shut her mouth for good. 'Not good, breath Aether. Calm down, can't let my anger get the best of me. Stay calm.'

A few deep breaths later, and the harpy began to feel anxious. Her eyes constantly darted towards our surroundings, something I didn't miss. 'It's coming!' I inwardly grinned waiting for them to appear.

After a few more minutes of agonizing silence, the harpy seemed to have reached her wit's end. An ear-piercing shriek reverberated throughout the surroundings, causing me to frown in displeasure. Following that, the harpy launched herself towards me like a meteor.

As I prepared to face her, dozen more appeared. All circling me with vicious expressions. "Ah shit, that's a tad too much don't you think?" I chuckled. Hearing that the harpy gave a bloodthirsty grin and slashed her wings in a downwards motion sending a wind blade my way.

Her companions didn't give me any time to think as they sent followed suit with attacks of their own. The main thing to note was the fact that they all seemed to use wind magic. Faced with the magical attack, my eyes gleamed with determination as I rushed headfirst against the harpy's attack.

My connection with the stream was none existent, but that did not mean I lacked mana at all. Tapping into my soul space, water mana steered under my command. The whole miniature world inside my soul space was made out of mana!

My claws shone in a bright blue hue as I chopped the incoming wind blare into pieces. The harpy was momentarily shocked and failed to react as I flapped my wings and appeared before her.

The harpy attempted to use her talons to strike my face, alas, she was a step too late. My claw pounced on her, grabbing the harpy by the neck. Panic flashed through her eyes, as a savage expression made its way unto my face.

"You shouldn't have made me angry," I grinned and squeezed. The harpy's face turned purple before her head exploded in a puff of red. Channeling water mana into my tail. I abruptly twisted my body mid-air sending a whip of water to clash against the incoming wind blades, nullifying all of them.

With their sneak attack's failure. The harpies visibly shuddered as they all simultaneously took a step back.

"Oh no, none of you is going anywhere!"