Chapter 358: Living Rocks

Early Morning - Late Winter : Eastern Area of The Scar

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"Hm..." -Looks like this is the entrance...- *fwoosh* *fwoosh* *fwoosh-crunch* Gently landing on the crunchy powdered snow layering the top of a tiny cliff all the way at the base of the mountain, I lowered my neck down to look into the cave entrance my aura said was right beneath my feet.

But instead of peering into a small, dark cave, I was presented with the view of a seemingly normal, solid cliff. -Hah! To think I actually found this place...- My tail gently flicked back and forth with joy as I looked at it closer.

It was way outside of my search area. Being thunderbirds, I assumed they would use an entrance at least partially up the mountain or perhaps in a steep rock face to keep out the likes of wandering humans or other wildlife.

But, instead of using an entrance that was hard to reach, the cave entrance was extremely isolated and surrounded by runes engraved in parallel to create dozens of barriers that hid it so well it could have easily fooled my eyes if I weren't looking for it. -By the looks of things, it even mimics the temperature and texture of the surrounding stone and even gives some resistance to a wall of high-pressure air... Although it makes it a bit abnormally squishy, a human wouldn't know any better even if they touched or leaned up against it...- "How impressive..."

But unfortunately for them, I wasn't a creature so helpless that I couldn't read my own aura and realize it was just a good illusion.

*flash* Not bothering to waste time scouting the cave with my aura, I quickly changed to my humanoid form with a flash, but before the transformation could even finish, I tensed up and cringed while holding my arms up in the air, tangled in a mess of threads.

*WHAAAMMMM* Cracks instantly spread down the cliff as the impact of my sword falling to the ground knocked the snow out of nearby trees. -Ah.. shit...-

Although I didn't give it any thought before transforming, I still hadn't used my humanoid form much since before my last dragon sleep, so the spells I subconsciously used to create things like clothes and equip my sword were still.. miscalibrated.. leading me to accidentally tangle myself in a huge clump of broken wire and cloth as if I was at the center of a 3d-printer malfunction, and drop my sword on the ground rather than in a sheath. -So much for a silent entrance...-

*Crackle-Woosh* But after clearing away the tangled mess I made with some fire magic, I finally had the chance to look at myself again, even though it felt a little odd.

I was almost exactly the same height as I was before, right around 187 centimeters, and was still quite muscular and extremely toned, but much like my draconic form, I slimmed down considerably, giving me a much more balanced appearance.

But such a change altered far more than just my appearance. When it came to my previously honed martial techniques and muscle memory, everything I had mastered, I now had to relearn. -But while it might take a while to optimize everything to this new body.. it should be far more comfortable in the long run...-

However, that was far from the only change I had to learn to work with before fighting anything on the level of a thunderbird.

As if to just throw every wrench into the mix at once, with the exceptions of a few trails of scales here and there, my body grew to mimic my fenririan form to a tee: My horns grew immensely, my tail doubled in length, now being closer to the size of a dragon's than a fenrir demihuman's, and as if that wasn't enough... *flap* *flap* "Haah..." I had two large furred wings sprouting from my back, just below my upper back. -How bothersome...-

Thankfully though, although it wasn't until after I played with them for a moment that I realized, while the wings were far too small to fly with and honestly just a plain inconvenience to work around, they compensated for it by being extremely nimble, far more so than in either of my other forms.

-Woah...- Not only could I tuck in or wrap my wings around myself like I could in my other forms, I could bend them down and lay them one over the other on my lower back and butt to keep them out of the way whenever needed, whether I was squeezing through a tight space or fighting. -To lower my center of mass so much too... That's pretty convenient...- My opinion on them flipped in an instant. -I wonder if other dragon's humanoid form's are like this...-

As techniques started blasting through my mind, I honestly began questioning if I couldn't incorporate my horns or tail into techniques as well, but before I could get too carried away, I gathered myself and finally readjusted all my spells, this time permanently. -Let's try that again, shall we?- *Vwoom*

It only took a moment for my body to suddenly be tightly wrapped in cloth and my forearms to be clamped with gold. -Now, if I just put my sword here...- Gently sliding it into its horizontal sheath hidden beneath the folded wings on my lower back, I took a moment to make a few final adjustments before shortening my hair some and tying it back in a ponytail. -Much better.-

Eventually finishing, I turned my attention back to the cave and promptly hopped down the four-meter 'cliff' to investigate it. *puff* But as I landed, I noticed a load of tracks in the snow, some left by shoes, and some not. -Those look like hoof prints... Did humans come through here?-

I wanted to scratch my head as I wracked my brain to come up with a reason thunderbirds would need horses, but while I couldn't think of anything, the idea of it being from humans made even less sense. -Based on the path they took through the woods, they came straight here... They knew exactly where this entrance was...- It was also a path through the trees that was too optimal to be done by humans, whether they followed a map or had just taken the path a million times. -But there's no reason to try to be a detective... I'll be meeting them soon enough.-

Finally turning back to the cave entrance, I casually walked through its barriers while massaging my neck. -Maybe instead of straining my brain, I can strain my body for once...- "Should I give it a shot?"

Swiftly lowering my posture, I bent my knees before.. *CRACK-WOO-WHAAMMMMM* I vanished, smashing through the sound barrier before almost instantly tripping and going face first into the stone. *CR-CR-CR-CRUNCH* Eventually reaching my arm out and digging it into the ground, I brought my self to a halt before hastily standing up and brushing myself off as if someone might see me.

"Ahem..." -Let's uh.. try that again.. this time a bit slower...-

Quickly starting back up, I worked my way from a walk to a jog to a run until I was back to darting through the cave faster than the speed of sound, this time in a far more comfortable and controlled fashion.

With how much stronger my body was, the sound barrier wasn't much of a barrier anymore. Even without using vacuum magic, I could easily push through it. -But moving through such a confined space this fast is a bit annoying...- Not only were there countless things to trip me up, if I weren't using any magic to muffle the shockwave I created, I would have been shattering and blowing out the walls of the cave.

But it didn't take long for the cave to start expanding, getting wider and wider until I could even fit my draconic form in it pretty comfortably.

However, I was still running. I had yet to slow down. -Just how fucking deep is this cave...- Although I was moving at a snail's pace compared to what I usually did in my draconic form, Mach 1.5 through a cave was no joke. Keeping that pace for almost nine minutes, I had honestly started wondering just where I was going. -In a second, I'll be nearing three hundred kilometers travelled in here... Where does this damn place end?-

But thankfully, not long after I questioned that, a mix of blue and yellow light met my eyes from way up ahead of me, and at the same time, I felt several considerably strong auras through the walls behind the light. -FINALLY!-

Not bothering to hold back anymore, I quickly sped up even more before slowing to a walk right as I entered the massive rotunda-like room lined with symbols, intricate carvings, text, and massive statues while lit by a mix of torches and artifacts. -This must be the entrance...-

It looked like the inside of some ancient temple with the statues of various animals, a few humanoid beings, and a huge thunderbird standing around a large platform as if judging whoever walked on it.

Even I felt like I was being watched by each of them as I walked inside. -They're clearly made of stone, so.. how...- Not only did I feel gazes from them, but I felt auras from them as well, although it was faint. -Do they use camera artifacts through the statues to judge whether to open the door or not?-

But I quickly found that not to be the case.

*Shift* Hearing a stone turn, I instantly froze and looked up at the towering thunderbird statue standing in front of the door to find its lifeless stone eyes staring straight at me. -What the... How did it do that...-

It moved.

Pushing my aura into the statue, I quickly scanned through it, only to find a sizable mana core emitting almost no aura at all. -That looks like an artifact.. but I don't see any runes that it could make use of nearby...-

However, while I couldn't see what it was for, that was only for a moment.

*VWOOM* While I was still looking at it, the aura it emitted exploded, multiplying by magnitudes before bringing a blue glow to its eyes. -What the fuck?-

I recognized it instantly, but it was something I believed to be nothing more than an old myth. -It's a golem?!-

*shift-CRACKLE* Opening its mouth, a ball of glowing flames appeared inside its beak before blasting out, engulfing me in an instant.

But instead of panicking like any other being would, I felt a fire-like curiosity light in my chest. -To think it can even use magic!- Even while I was being bathed in a plume of fire hot enough to melt steel, I smiled. -How do you work?!- I was so incredibly fascinated by it because even with unbelievably complicated runes, it was something I believed was impossible to make.

*WOOooosh* As the flames died down, the smug thunderbird statue went to close its mouth again, having dealt with the enemy, but when it tried, it noticed it couldn't.

"How fascinating..."

*shift* Shifting its eyes down more, it finally noticed me casually holding its mouth open, looking down at the core in its throat with my space mana.

But when it forced its beak shut regardless, as if to try and crush me, its beak simply crumbled. *Crumble-woosh* Falling out of its beak, I landed on the ground with a crunch. *WHAM* -So if it works like that.. then what if I just...- *THWAK-WHAMM* Casually tapping one of its little chicken legs, the stone was reduced to dust before the huge statue began to fall.

But before it could hit the ground, the stone in its body appeared to liquefy before reforming its leg like a dungeon core repairing itself. -What a clever way to do that...-

Instead of just using automated, absurdly complicated runes, someone was controlling the golem through a relatively thick mana tether connected to the ceiling, somewhat similarly to how Hera controlled her body before it healed. This gave the statues properties similar to dungeon cores while letting them be sentiently controlled.

That did mean it had a massive weakness, being if the tether was cut, the golem would be reduced to a statue, but if their opponent wasn't at least on the level of an older dragon, such things would be hard to discover. -That makes me wonder though... Just how strong are these things? Do they rely on magic? Or...- Looking back at the other statutes, I watched them all turn to me before setting my eyes on the humanoid statues wielding weapons. -I wonder...-

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