The Voltic Orb

The Elysians mostly remained quiet, even when a few taunts flew their way. 'They are biding their time… This can only mean two things. Either they are losing patience, or will attack and harass me much more'. Neither of these outcomes were great, but no matter what, I had to wait until the evening to carry out my plan.

In the afternoon, I applied some more medicine to my shoulder. My leg was mostly alright, but just to make sure, I applied some medicine there as well. My chest, on the other hand, felt a lot better. My breathing wasn't affected as such anymore, and the slight discomfort wouldn't obstruct my movements.

Since everything was mostly alright, and my body was rested, I decided to exercise a bit. The pose father introduced to me was something else indeed. Remaining in that pose for about five or six minutes required many months of training. That wasn't even the whole extent of what that pose could achieve. The longer I could remain under that pose, the more explosive my strength became.

'Dad said to practice this everyday, until I reach the ten minutes mark. He showed me that second pose too, but I'm not going to try and replicate it… Not under such circumstances'. If something happened to my muscles, I'd be well and truly screwed. The Second pose was unknown to me, and therefore not worth the risk of trying to replicate it. Besides, I haven't reached the ten minutes mark of the first pose anyway.

My energy was another aspect which didn't require loads of space. I could train my energy a bit, and even try to figure some things out. During the fight with the group of Elysians, my Aura awakened. That wasn't weird, I was angry after all. The weird part was my energy control. I was able to actually collect the energy in my arm, and condense it. That was how the cat-like man died.

'That had something to do with Aura and my instincts. After all, I wasn't in control of my body back then. Though that should mean, I should be able to achieve the same feat… Right?', I asked myself. Since my body was able, why couldn't I repeat that without my Aura or instincts?

The practice took me a while, but I managed to actually achieve that. 'I can't hold such condensed energy for too long though. The longer my energy remains compressed, the more discomfort my arm experiences'. In other words, overdoing that would damage my own arm. This was the drawback master Irwin talked about. Though such control of energy was potentially lethal, the fact I was able to make such progress made me happy. The next step was my fist, but that had to wait for a while.

Late in the afternoon, the Elysians finally tried to pressure me a bit. Their leader sent all his team members towards the cave. "Guys, have you seen the beauty of that orb? Come closer, and I'll show you how it glitters", I said while taking out the Voltic Orb. The two archers shot at me, but I simply hid inside the cave. "I have a question though. How did you manage to kill all these people, and leave their corpses intact?", I asked from within the cave.

"We can show you, once you leave that cave of yours. How about it? Good deal, eh?", the wolf-like man answered. "I'm not that curious though. Moreover, these two women, they never changed into an animal. Did you kidnap them or something?", I asked a different question. "Come out, and we'll show you", this time one of the women replied. Since they invited me so much...

The two archers shot their arrows immediately, but avoiding them wasn't that difficult since their attacks were expected. "Hey, you promised to show me. Which breed are you then?", I asked again. Instead of an answer, they shot more arrows my way. "You must be really ugly, since you refuse to show me. That's a shame", I taunted them. "I'll kill that bitch!", one of the women shouted, before transforming into a wasp-like creature.

She had a thick tail with a stinger, and her eyes became similar to that of a wasp. She shot one arrow after the other, but these arrows were no longer that simple. Or rather, she wasn't that simple. I wasn't sure how, but it felt like she knew my every move. The few arrows that she shot, almost pierced right through me. Fortunately, I quickly hid inside the cave, taking cover behind the skin at the entrance.

"Tsss.. Tsss… ", the noise these arrows made upon contact with those skins wasn't normal. I wasn't sure why the arrows made that sizzling sound, but when a hole appeared in one of the skins, I quickly realised what it was. Her arrows were coated in poison, strong poison at that.

Under the barrage of her attacks, even the silver bear's skin steamed like crazy. A few small holes appeared here and there, but then everything stopped suddenly. "You lucky bitch, I'll get you one day. You just sit there and wait!", the wasp-like woman exclaimed.

'So that's how these corpses had no skin, clothes or anything. They had to use that poison'. The question was, why did they hide such poison from me? 'The arrow that got my leg… No, there had to be poison on it. The wound got a bit purple, but I thought this was normal since my shoulder acted the same. That wasn't the case. The purple colour on my leg was due to poison. My father's medicine was able to get rid of it. That's probably why they were shocked by my speedy recovery', I realised.

"Cough… Cough…", a few coughs reverberated through the area. They belonged to the woman who became wasp-like. After taking a peak, I saw them retreating. The leader seemed angry at that woman, but that was that. '... If my guess is correct, this sort of transformation places a huge strain over her body'.

The other guys didn't seem to be affected by changing, but that woman was. In other words, the two archers couldn't easily change to those creature-like forms. 'Still, they had to use that poison in order to kill all these people… if not for the medicine, would I be dead as well?', I asked myself. That was a possibility. If my leg couldn't function properly, I wouldn't be able to run away.

Once the sun disappeared below the horizon, the moon replaced it to illuminate the world slightly. The night was eerily silent, but that was about to change. Poking my head out of the cave, I didn't see the Elysians, or even their campfire. There was no doubt in my mind those guys were there. They had to be there for my plan to work, otherwise unnecessary problems would arise, at least for me.

After taking a few steps out of the cave, they finally decided to do something. The archers shot a few arrows my way, but due to the distance and rushed attack, they were not a problem. Instead of backing up to the cave, I rushed away from the entrance. "She's escaping!", one of the women shouted. "Awooo!", "Roar!", they must've transformed into animal-like states before chasing after me. The cave wasn't that big, but big enough to create a diversion. With my body pressed against the cave's wall, I held the Voltic Orb in my hand and awaited their arrival.

My heart beat like crazy. To me, it was louder than the noises made by my pursuers. This was my only chance. A one shot at everything. Their steps resounded in my ears more and more, until the first of them emerged into my view. The wolf-like man couldn't see me, perhaps he'd be able to smell me if not for the smell of earth all over my body.

The boar-like man was behind him, closely followed by the two women and the leader. There was no need for me to think about it anymore. Once they realised I wasn't actually in front of them, it was too late. The Voltic Orb already left my hand. Moreover, it was glowing brightly, reflecting the faces of surprised Elysians.

I didn't sit there to stare at their expressions. After all, my father warned me about that orb. No, I ran, and ran as fast as my legs could possibly move. There was no way for them to escape that, nothing they could do, but submit to the power my father warned me about.

"BZZT… Crackle!... Clap!", the Voltic Orb raised an electric storm. Thunders and electric energy rage behind me, but the orb was stronger than any of us could imagine. I had no clue what happened to the Elysians, but when my body got swept up by the electric storm, I knew they couldn't be better off.

The electric energy released by the orb was violent, untameable. My body got zapped countless times. Thick whip-like strands battered my body left and right, burning the leather armour and my skin in the process.

My pain could be considered mild, compared to what those Elysians had to go through. The storm finally spat me out towards the open area, but my body couldn't move at all. The amount of electric energy that went through my body wasn't small. I could barely breathe, and the pain caused my tears to fall involuntarily.

I laid there for a good half an hour, before my muscles finally responded to my pleas. A slight move of my finger was already great progress. The more I tried moving, the more my body relaxed. Perhaps another half an hour later, I could finally stand up and witness the damage caused by the Voltic Orb. My body alone had lash-like marks everywhere. The smell of burning was everywhere, but mostly because of what laid in front of me.

The cave, the trees, everything was burned or destroyed into pieces. Even during the night, I could tell the ground was charred, and whip like marks were left everywhere. "What an abysmal weapon… To think Voltars produce this…", I said to myself in shock. None of them could survive this, there was simply no way.

My body was affected to such a state, just because the outer edges of the storm caught up with me. This was indeed a dangerous weapon, my father's warning wasn't a joke in any sense of that word. Step by step, I walked towards the centre of the affected area. The trees that managed to stay intact were charred black. The ground around the central area became akin to a glass. Smooth and hot to the touch, as well as reflective in the moonlight. The Elysians? Not even bones were visible in that area. Nothing survived that storm.

Walking a bit deeper towards the forest, I actually managed to find some charred bones and body parts. They managed to escape a bit, but not enough. Besides a few remnants, they perished just like that. "You had a chance to simply let go. You had a chance to go your own way, mind your own business. Now? All of you paid for it with your lives… Was it worth it?', I said out loud.

I didn't need an answer, the answer was clear. "This place isn't safe. I have to get away from here, as far as I can. The Voltic Orb made such a commotion, I'm afraid there might be other Elysians who heard something". Besides, there was nothing awaiting me in that area anymore.

One thing was certain. The Voltic Orb was no longer in my possession. That meant, my hidden card was gone. Another group of Elysians and I'd be properly screwed. 'I have to get to the sea. The two masters will be there, waiting for me. I can tell them the whole story, and perhaps ask for some answers. Who knows, maybe they already know about this'. With that in mind, I dragged myself away from that place, heading north-west just like the two masters told me to.