*SCREEEEEEE*

With an ear-splitting cry, Calron slammed into the ma.s.sive goblin as bolts of lightning struck the beast’s hide, eliciting a roar of pain.

“GRUAAAHHH!”

The enraged beast rapidly swung its arm around Calron’s neck and put him into a chokehold.

Sh*t! He’s fast!

Calron cursed, while flailing his wings in an attempt to escape from the monster’s steely grip.

Without warning, the goblin variant viciously pounded Calron’s chest with its calloused fist.

BOOOOOM!

Calron cried out in agony as he felt his ribs crack. The metallic scales did not shatter under the beast’s attack, but they were unable to prevent the shockwaves from the punch, causing devastation to Calron’s internal body.

Before giving the beast another chance to strike, Calron swiftly lifted his lower body up from the ground and struck the monster’s eyes with his metallic claws. Pushing off against the beast’s face, Calron escaped from the chokehold and leapt back a few feet away from the large goblin.

That did not go well at all. How the h.e.l.l is he so fast?

Calron spat out a mouthful of blood, as he glared at the dark green beast.

Based on the goblin’s physical appearance, he knew that it would be strong, but the speed of its reflexes completely shocked Calron.

“GRUAAHHH!”

With a mighty bellow, the large goblin charged towards Calron while a murky green essence coalesced behind its body.

*whooosh*       *whooosh*

Violent gusts of wind wrapped around the goblin variant, as it let out a sinister grin while continuing to speed towards Calron.

This is officially the worst day of my life…

Calron sighed, when he saw the goblin use wind essence to bolster its agility and rapidly close the distance between them.

At this moment, he was unable to use the two most powerful abilities that he had: the Blood Legacy and the Azure Lightning. Furthermore, Calron was utterly inept at fighting with his beast body.

I knew that this would not turn out well, and you did not listen to me.

Ezkael chimed in with his smug voice.

Teacher, any tips on fighting as a beast?

Calron asked in a hopeful tone.

Well, your bloodline is different from mine, but I do remember Raizel using his scales to fight in his earlier beast stage… I think…

Ezkael answered with hesitation.

That does not help me in any way. Dammit, there is no time!

Calron instantly spread his wings and prepared to rush towards the nearing beast.

He had no plan.

Raising his head to the sky, Calron screeched when he was only moments away from colliding against the large goblin.

The entire audience held their breath, staring at the stage with tension. They knew deep within their hearts that a Bronze badge holder, and moreover an Arena debutant, could never hope to beat a Silver ranked beast, however, there was just something in that golden bird’s cry that made their hearts flutter with excitement.

“GRAAAAA!”

*SCREEEEEE*

BOOOOOOOM!

The sound of an explosion reverberated throughout the stadium when the two opponents collided against each other.

Dodging the large goblin’s punch, Calron slashed his wings against the beast’s thighs. Before a second had even pa.s.sed, the goblin immediately swung down its head to bash Calron on the face.

BOOOOM!

Roaring in agony, Calron simultaneously struck his claws against the goblin’s legs and swept his metallic wings towards its eyes.

A slow smile spread on the large goblin’s face when it saw that its opponent was using the same tactic twice. Swiftly grabbing the nearing metallic wing with one hand, and the claws with the other, the monster slammed Calron’s entire body to the ground.

BOOOOOM!

With his mind in shambles and his body wrangled in pain, Calron choked out another mouthful of blood as his breaths came out in rasps. Looking up at the towering monster, Calron felt utter despair when he saw that he had barely made a scratch on the goblin’s hide.

No matter how powerful he was, Calron was still unable to match the strength of a fifth rank Vajra stage beast.

He thought that he could fight using his superior speed, but his opponent overwhelmingly surpa.s.sed him in that aspect as well.

“GRAGRAAAA!”

In a triumphant bellow, the monstrous beast raised its ma.s.sive foot and stomped on Calron’s back.

*crunch*

Screaming with agony, Calron desperately tried to escape as he thrashed around on the ground.

Without hesitation, the goblin variant bent down and took hold of both of Calron’s wings while keeping its foot remained on his back.

Knowing what the beast was about to do, an uncontrollable fury arose within Calron. His azure eyes flashed with a cold wrath, as thick bolts of lightning began to dart around him.

Invisible to the audience as his body was pressed to the ground, a blue glow began to faintly emit from Calron’s chest.

The Azure Lightning was waking up.

However, the moment it tried to come out, it was stopped by Ezkael’s soul. Infuriated, the Azure Lightning started to lash against the soul binds so it could help out its host.

“GRAHAHA!”

Madly laughing with glee, the goblin savagely pulled Calron’s wings.

*SCREEEEEEE*

Calron hoa.r.s.ely cried out with pain, as he felt the metallic wings starting to tear apart from his body.

Agony.

Hopelessness.

Desperation.

Suddenly, the world went black.

“Raizel, pay attention!”

An enormous twenty-foot golden bird loomed overhead, staring at the tiny figure on the ground.

Clumsily flapping his wings on the ground, the four-foot tiny bird lazily dropped onto the gra.s.s. Compared to the astounding height of his grandfather, the little golden bird appeared like a tiny pebble.

“Grandpa, I’m hungry!”

Raizel groaned as he rolled around in the gra.s.s.

“Sigh… you are already ten years old, and yet your beast form is only four feet tall…”

The giant bird muttered, as it gradually shape-shifted back into a human, and sat down next to the little bird on the gra.s.s.

“Why do you hate training so much, kid?”

The old man asked gently, as he stroked the scales on the tiny golden bird.

“Umm, I just don’t like fighting.”

Raizel stated while snapping the gra.s.s stalks with his beak.

“What will you do if someone attacks you?”

The old man inquired, as he turned to look at the cloudy sky above.

“Why would someone want to attack me?”

The little bird curiously tilted its head, as its bright azure eyes innocently stared into the old man.

“Hahaha, true. Want to see a cool trick?”

The old man abruptly changed the topic, not wanting to explain the cruelty of the world that they lived in.

Raising his arm in front of his chest, the old man’s eyes flashed with golden lightning as metallic scales started to shoot across his arm.

Unlike the complete beast shape-shifting where the limbs would morph into claws, this time the arm retained its human shape but with golden scales covering it.

“Woah! How did you do that?”

Raizel whispered in astonishment, as he crawled closer to his grandfather’s scaly arm.

“We come from a special bloodline, Raizel. Lightning is as much of a part of us as we are to it. Tell it what you want it to do, and it will obey your command. Now, watch.”

Faint bolts of lightning emerged out from the man’s hand and charged into the gra.s.s in front of him.

Letting out an abrupt yelp, Raizel leapt off into the air and landed behind his grandfather.

Curiously watching what was happening, Raizel noticed that the entire bed of gra.s.s in front of him was starting to slightly vibrate as currents of lightning danced around it.

“Go.”

With a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips, the old man snapped his fingers.

In the next instant, countless stalks of gra.s.s broke off from the soil and shot ahead into a tree.

*thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk*

Akin to metal arrows, the tips of each blade of gra.s.s penetrated into the trunk of the tree in a storm of lightning needles.

“Grandpa, teach me that move! That was soo cool!”

Raizel excitedly cried out, as he clumsily hopped around his grandfather while flapping his juvenile wings.

“Hahaha, once you can shape-shift at least into a seven foot tall bird, then I will teach you.”

The old man laughed as he gently slapped his grandson on the back.

“Tch! By the way, Grandpa…”

Raizel started.

“Yes?”

“I’m still hungry.”

—In the Arena—

The ground began shaking as grey clouds ominously formed in the sky, causing the daylight to gradually vanish.

The sound of thunder silently rumbled, as drops of rain started to trickle down.

It was at that moment when Calron opened his eyes, and the scales on his body began to shimmer in a strange glow.