A boy could be seen going deeper into the forest, covered in shadows. He moved swiftly, dancing from one branch of a tree to another. The other could only feel a gust of wind before the figure disappeared. Despite moving so swiftly, it was not making any sound or leaving any presence.
He moved closer and closer between the falling leaves to the area that the low-level creatures never dared to visit. He kept moving and found himself in front of a hilly region. As he entered it, he discovered mist all around him, blocking his vision. He was also not able to hear any sounds.
As he got lost in the mist, multiple strange figures could be seen moving across the shadows. These creatures crawled and jumped from one shadow to another if someone saw their strange humanoid appearances and eyes shining purple. They might feel they have seen ghosts—a swarm of ghosts.
The figure continued his journey. He closed his eyes and tried to sense his surroundings. He felt like he could see a strange area covered in water on the surface, filled with strange creatures. He kept moving. A giant sword appeared below his feet as he walked.
The next moment he could be seen hovering in the air; he started moving towards the deeper area of this region. As he went closer, he discovered that this place was getting more and more strange; he could see the skeletons of various creatures filling the area.
As he kept exploring this strange place, using his shadow sense, he noticed the presence of a strange hill that was taller than others. He discovered it was filled with spooky trees and vines covered in thorns as he approached it. It was as if this place was hiding a big secret.
He sensed a giant opening on top of the hill. It was like a gate that opened to a different world. His sword moved up, carrying him like a flying carpet or a flying sword used by some swordsmen. He looked at the giant door hidden in the mist; he could sense its presence.
His heartbeat was raised as he slowly approached it. He put back his sword and activated the first form of his zone, 'Absolute Concealment' He turned into the shadow of a small bat that no one could see or sense. He slowly entered it, and what he saw was something he couldn't believe.
As he moved inside, he sensed the presence of multiple ferocious beasts. He could hear their growls and roars. He approached further and discovered a place filled with beautiful trees and plants; he could also see endless skeletons below. He kept moving, and his eyes fell on the strange creatures flying from side to side.
It looked like a different world. He found various rocky pillars with vines full of flowers surrounding them. He saw long, mystical blue-colored grass growing on their top. It was in such quantity that it created a big, soft bed. His eyes then fell on the mystical creature that resembled dragons the most.
It had two strong legs and large bat-like wings with claws attached to them; Rishi had learned from the memories of the Skinks tribe, Wyvern Rider. Wyverns were the ones that emerged out of the eggs left by the Forgotten Gods. It was told that due to not being taken care of properly, most could not hatch.
The ones that did had to survive on their own; without the motherly care and father's protection, they needed to depend on themselves. Due to their malnourished bodies, they started to degrade over time. The nature of their evolution chose survival as the top priority. They survived and grew back, but the price they paid made them lose most of their abilities.
The eyes of the boy fall into the marvel of nature—the beautiful creatures with bright eyes. He saw Mama Wyvern taking care of her eggs, and his eyes fell on the little one-foot-long infants, making cute sounds and getting fed milk by their mothers.
He saw the larger male wolves constantly patrolling the area. It was not a surprise that this race had survived by depending on themselves. They still ruled the sky despite facing near-extinction situations in the past. A wyvern's life was no different from any other creature. The parents sacrificed their happiness to raise their children, protect them, and teach them how to survive and prosper.
The thought was different, but the goal was the same. His eyes shifted to a mother wyvern pushing her three-foot baby with tiny wings down. The baby was different from others; it could not learn to fly like other babies. The mother pushed it, and the baby felt like his heart had skipped a beat. It tried to flap its wings, but it kept falling.
It was then that he started using all his strength, forgetting everything. The small gusts were released from its tiny wings, and it started flying. It released a happy growl before it lost balance and started falling. Even the boy watching as an observer was worried about the baby.
'Whoosh'
A powerful gust passed by, and a large five-meter wyvern appeared above it, catching the baby gently with one of its claws before dropping it back to its mother. With a concerned expression, the female wyvern looked at its baby, licking its body and comforting it. She then gave him some delicious food and praised it. The male wyvern landed beside them and touched his head, showing affection.
As the boy looked at this scene and multiple similar scenes, his heart started to beat in a strangely calm way. He looked at the beautiful scenery and multiple waterfalls surrounding the area. The beasts lived happily, and as he looked at them, he was reminded of his job as a beast cultivator.
He had come to her to steal eggs, eliminate all the wyverns, and turn them into shadow soldiers. When he looked at them and saw them living happily, he could not make himself destroy everything for his selfish needs. He had done it many times, but every time he had a reason, but this time he was doing it out of greed.
A thought also came to his mind: why are the wyverns raised by the Skinks tribe so weak compared to the real wyverns? Why were they not able to raise Wyverns by themselves? Now that he looked at this scene, he understood that similar to humans, they were also social creatures.
Due to not receiving a mother's care, the Weavern raised by the Skinks tribe was not able to develop properly. They needed a proper habitat and community to be raised to their full potential. While he might be able to overcome all this by using his knowledge as a beast cultivator, when he looked back at them living happily, a question came to his mind.
'Is this really the right way? To first create a problem by yourself and then try to solve it by wasting more time, is this really the human way of doing it? Is there no other way?'
He looked back at the lair full of close to a hundred wyverns. Due to the Skinks tribe stealing their eggs, they were not able to increase their numbers. He closed his eyes and thought about it before turning his back on them and leaving. 'I will tame them all; I just need to wait till I am stronger. Shadow creatures are not living beings; they can't replace a life.'
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m