BOOM!

A ball of fire crashed into the ground near the dancing Tiger, nearly charring his fur despite it’s resilience.

At this moment in time, Raiko and Drako were fighting again. God knows how many times they had been fighting ever since Raiko’s last breakthrough that made him a Rank 7 Magic Beast with the fighting prowess of a Rank 9.

Although he had the ability to go head on with Drako, he never won. He wasn’t even able to gain an advantage despite the fact that his martial ability was stronger and Drako was still only Rank 4. Something that caused the prideful Tiger great humiliation.

This result could only be explained by Drako’s Law of Fire foundation. Since his Mana was formed from the Laws of Fire, each breakthrough in the Magic Beast realm (Body Refinement realm) refined his body with the best flames available, making his body extremely powerful.

And if he had the capability to actually use the essence of those Fire Laws to attack instead of having to convert it into regular Fire Elements, talk less of Magic Beasts, even a Spirit Beast would vanish from a single ball of fire whether it hit or not.

But as it stands now, Draco didn’t have that ability to summon forth a lick of Fire Laws at all, he and his future generations would die first! Henceforth, he had to dilute the Laws of Fire into the Fire Elements but as a result of this, he had endless flames to use.

1 Essence of Fire Law = 10,000 Elements of Fire, so you can imagine.

However, this didn’t mean you could recklessly use large amounts of energy just because you had it in your core. For energy to leave your core, it had to pass through your mana circuits or whatever you had as substitution, so you had to be careful you didn’t destroy them by being reckless.

The fight between Raiko and Drako could be considered one of their biggest ones yet and

things were getting intense as they tussled through the Forest without being aware of where they were going.

Something they would come to regret.

As heads butted, claws flashed and fangs snapped, the smell of the surroundings began to change, indicating that they had entered someone’s territory. When someone claimed territory, the longer they lived there, the longer the territory was affected by them depending on their strength. Minor things like a minute change in smell that any Beast could sense was one of them.

Unfortunately, the 2 fighters were too busy to notice.

…

[ Somewhere in the Central Eastern Forest, Northern Territory ]

The location was dark because of the towering trees that covered the skies but 2 things could faintly be seen.

First was the decently sized pond that twinkled from the few rays of sunlight that made it through the canopy. The second thing… The second thing was a colossal-sized silhouette that towered over 10 metres and emitted a daunting aura that would cause the hearts of anyone watching to skip a couple beats. Strangely, there were 2 objects that faintly resembled tree branches standing erect at the top of it’s head but it didn’t take away from the impact of the scene in the slightest.

The colossal being suddenly twitched as if it noticed something and swung its head in a certain direction.

Where a pair of eyes should be, 2 white menacing lights that could cause some of the most vigorous youths to suffer from heart attacks slowly appeared.

“Those 2 stinking rats actually dare…”

…

Raiko leapt to the left, narrowly dodging Drako’s bite before lunging at the Snake’s neck and pinning him to the ground.

Raiko grinned with glee, this was the first time he obtained the upper hand. As he brandished his claws in preparation to strike, flames suddenly erupted, covering the entirety of Drako’s body like a protective cloak.

Raiko grunted with frustration before jumping off. Death wasn’t his type so he mostly refrained from actions that suggested he was trying to court it. Burning seemed to be one of the things that got death's attention so he had no qualms retreating.

Draco majestically raised his head akin to a proud Dragon, his blazing eyes and fiery mane making him look supernaturally beautiful, the disdain in his eyes making him look like a king in front of a slave and the roll of his tongue as he hissed making him look menacing. All of these features fused to create a heart stopping image that would make onlookers pause with awe as a feeling of submission rose in their hearts.

But Raiko didn’t appreciate the view at all. He roared with dignity, easily negating the charming effect that Drako emitted. His golden fur sparkled and his claws/fangs gleaned threateningly. His looks didn’t lose out to Drako’s in the slightest and as a king of beasts, the aura he had was more oppressive and charming, surpassing Drako’s, who had his big sister Jörma as a role model in his heart, preventing him from having thoughts of being King.

Just as they were about to clash again, Raiko finally noticed something, causing him to sniff tentatively.

‘!!!’

The hairs on Raiko’s body slightly raised in mild alarm, causing Drako to realise that something was wrong. Raiko had finally realised that they were in an unknown territory and he didn’t know the owner’s strength, causing him to be wary.

On the other hand, Draco suddenly choked on his hiss and started coughing. His eyes bulged and his pupils narrowed to pinpricks. His scales suddenly lost its lustre and the flames around his body were immediately doused, even his half-flame half-hair Mane lost it’s magnificence, looking rough, dry and tangled as if he had become an old man.

Without hesitation, he sped away at full speed, the picture of despair clearly visible on his face.

Raiko wasn’t dumb at all and realized that the the evil snake must have recognized the owner of this territory and the owner must have been a terrifying one for the sinister snake to have run like that.

Anything that could cause that snake to look like death had feelings for him wasn’t something Raiko had ANY interest in meeting, so he turned and ran.