Saiyan Gamer

Chapter 5: King Of Atross Mountain

"So this is Atross mountain…"

To say that it was massive was an understatement. Even at a great distance, the cluster of mountains seemed to go left and right as far as I could see, with massive peaks that easily pierced the green clouds above it. Instead of the purple crystals like the mountain that I lived in, these were a dark golden color.

The stary night sky reflected off of the crystals in a mesmerizing display of light. I found myself staring at it, entranced until my traveling companion waved in front of my face to catch my attention.

"It's beautiful, but come on, we have a mission," She turned on her heels and kept on walking towards the mountain range.

"I've never seen anything like it," I gaped, still shocked.

"My Mom says that it is one of the most beautiful sights in the galaxy."

"I agree."

"Don't let it distract you from the fact that Wyverns live here, even if they're in hibernation right now," She reminded me. "It definitely takes away from the awe."

I wasn't so sure about that, but I didn't argue with her.

It took us an hour or so to finally get to the base and another few hours to get at least halfway up one of the smaller peaks. We finally stopped to catch our breaths underneath a strange crystal that formed in the shape of a claw. It gave us cover, which protected us from the creatures who were watching us.

I decided to sit down against the crystal and lean my head against the wall. No Name rolled up into a ball at my feet, resting her head against my leg.

"You didn't bring any food," I noted once I glanced over at her. "Unless we can eat that thing on your back."

"This is a weapon," She pulled the curved object off of her back and held it in her left hand. "It's called a bow."

"I've never seen one before," I hummed, interested in the strange object. "What does it do?"

"It shoots these things," She reached into a long, basket-looking object on her back and pulled out a metal pole with a pointed end. "They're called arrows, and when I pull the string, it launches the arrow out at high speeds."

"Cool," I trailed off slightly while looking at the arrow. "Can it catch us some food?"

She rolled her eyes and turned away from me. "It could if I could see well enough in this darkness. The light reflecting off of the mountain isn't enough for me to get a clean shot."

"It's not that dark," I said under my breath, my stomach growling when I did.

"For you. You live in that dark ass cave," Leeku said as she swirled the arrow in her hand. "But hey, if you have any ideas let me know. We definitely need to eat before we do this."

"Actually, I do have an idea," I stood up and stretched my back out.

"And that is?" She asked, tilting her head to look back at me.

"I can be your eyes," I answered. "I'll point out where to shoot. This darkness is nothing to me. I could see all of the creatures watching us as we were coming up."

"We were being watched?" She asked, her eyes widening slightly and her grip tightening on her bow.

"They kept their distance," I noted calmly. "But do you see my point?"

"Okay, fair enough," She hummed. "Where should I shoot?"

I gently floated out and above the claw-shaped formation, eyes peeled in every direction. Several creeping creatures stood out to me, but one looked particularly large and meaty. It wasn't looking at us, instead, traveling up the mountain slowly on its own. A perfect target.

"Leeku…" I whispered her name, and she floated up to meet me.

"Found something?"

"Right…" I floated next to her and turned us both in the direction of the large animal, pointing at it with my finger. I hoped that she could at least see its shadow blotting out the light of the stars as it moved. "There…"

Her face changed into a serious one, but not like the hatred-filled scowl from earlier in the day. This one was more concentrated. Her eyes dilated and she inhaled deeply, before lifting her bow and placing her arrow in it.

Light pink energy poured out of Leeku's arms and wrapped itself around said arms and then her arrow. It was a bright light, illuminating the area around us for at least a mile. I hadn't seen anything like it before, but before I could ask, or even warn that the animal had seen the light, she pulled back the string of the bow and released it.

The arrow disappeared and we were again in darkness. I didn't see it leave the string, but upon turning and staring in the direction that the animal was, I saw that it was now on its side with the arrow sticking upwards out of the side of its head.

It didn't even have time to react…

She tilted her head slightly towards me, a toothy grin making its way onto her face when she saw my expression. "Surprised?"

"I… Uh…" I looked between her and the dead animal, before nodding. "A little? You can do that? Put your energy on your weapons and your arms?"

I looked down at my own hands in shock. Can I do that?

"It takes a bit of time to learn, but it's a necessity to survive," She told me as we both started flying towards our dinner. "Like seriously, you have no chance against any creature that knows how to use their own energy."

"I can use my energy, but only out of my mouth," I said, a little baffled and alarmed at the new information. "But I didn't know that it could come out of anywhere else until now."

"Well, at least you have some sort of understanding of your own energy. That'll help when you try to learn," She said. We reached the body a moment later and we looked down at it. Its benefits were the same as most other meats, meaning that it restored HP, so I skipped over that to see its name and description.

Rhiglosaraus Corpse

Description: This creature is large and powerful, capable of dealing heavy blows with the large horn on its head. With rough, scaly skin, it is very resistant to physical attacks.

Why can't I loot it? I raised an eyebrow at the corpse as if it was going to answer me, but no answer came. Do I have to be the one to kill it for those options to pop up?

"Alright, let's head back," She grabbed the Rhiglosaraus by the horn and started to fly back to our crystal, and I followed behind her.

"Can the Wyverns King that lives on Atross use their energy?" I asked, the question striking me.

"Oh, definitely. It's been rumored that his energy is so powerful that it looks like lightning," She said carelessly. "Though that might be exaggerated."

"Then why…" I paused to compose the words in my head. "Why did you bring me along?"

"As I said, you're entertaining," She giggled to herself. "Besides, it's not like we're actually going to fight it. I'd die trying too. It took Bardock, Vegeta, and Omato fighting together to kill the last heir!"

"Wait, you know Bardock?" I asked in shock. She looked at me as if I had suddenly grown a second head.

"Everyone knows Bardock! I mean, I haven't met him, but he was a War Chief and there are so many stories about him!" She said, her voice now loud with excitement. "There were many War Chiefs, but those three stood out the most because of their power."

"Bardock's that strong?" I said aloud, thinking back to the calm, spiky-haired man that I had met before. "He-"

"You've met him?!" She asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah. We met in the woods."

"You're telling me you just casually met Bardock in the forest?" She asked, her eyes now narrowing at me.

"Yeah. I mean, how else would I have known the name?" I questioned her. At the same time, we arrived back at the crystal and she placed the food down.

"Alright, well you're going to tell me all about him over this meat."

"There isn't much to tell," I shrugged my shoulders and sat down. "I fell asleep in the forest one day, and when I woke up he shared some food with me, and we spoke about the planet and the suns, and then he said that he had to go."

"But why?" She asked. "Why would he stop to speak with some random kid and have a chat with you? No one in my town has seen him since the end of the war…"

"I don't know," I sighed loudly. "But if that's true, I guess it's a little odd."

"Yeah…" She drawled, eyeing me, before turning back to the food and pulling out a small knife. "A little…"

Her skin glowed the same pink as her energy while she cut the meat off of the beast and handed me a few pieces. I ate my pieces in silence, before offering No Name the scraps, which she refused to eat. When I was full, I sat back against the wall and looked at Leeku, who was still stuffing her face.

At moments like this, I really wished that I still had my ship and could look for an explanation on what was going on with me. When I stared at her, my entire body felt warm and tingly, like when the suns were out. It felt kind of good, like how it felt after I'd finally clear out a city without anyone surviving.

I wasn't sure how long I was staring before she looked back at me and released the meat between her teeth. "You're staring."

"Oh…" I looked at the ground and the heat throughout my body increased.

"I don't mind, but most guys try to at least hide it," She explained.

"Hide what?" I asked, a little confused.

"Wow, you really are clueless," She laughed, throwing her head back as she did. "It's cute."

"I… I don't know what that means…" I grumbled under my breath. "Why do I feel like I'm being mocked?"

"It's a compliment, Sprout," She said, before continuing when she saw my confusion. "You don't know what a compliment is?"

"No?"

Her lips immediately fell into a frown. "It's like a smaller version of praise. Your parents never said that you did a good job after a fight? Or even after you got back from your first purge?"

"No," I answered. "First time I met them, my sister tried to take my tail."

"That's rough," She said, before going silent.

I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at the ground. An uncomfortable emotion budded in my chest, but I shoved it down deep. "What's your family like?"

"Well, my mom is a chef," She sighed, an irritated roll of her eyes following quickly. "A third class at that. I have an older brother who's a very high second class, almost first, but he hasn't gone on any purges since his first."

Her current emotion reminded me strongly of the emotion that Brussel and my Dad had upon finding out my power level. I still wasn't sure what it was, but it sure wasn't positive. It was strong enough that it had moved Brussel to want to take my tail, after all.

"What is that?" I asked her after some time.

"What?"

"That feeling that you're having," I said. "I've seen it before, but I don't know what it is."

"Oh, that's just plain old disappointment," She sighed loudly, turning to look away and at the stars.

"What does it mean?" I questioned her further.

"It's the opposite of pride. It usually happens when someone doesn't live up to your expectation, or when you don't match up with someone else's," She began to explain. "Of course, you can also not meet up with your own expectations too, but that's just self-inflicted."

"Oh… I think I understand," I nodded my head silently to myself.

My family had expected me to come back stronger than when I'd left, so when I came back only a little bit stronger, they were so disappointed in me that it turned into anger, especially in Brussel's case. I didn't meet up with their expectations of me, but what were their expectations of me? I'm reaching for a goal, but I don't even know how high it is...

"Why are you disappointed in your family?" I asked her, suddenly wanting to escape the emotions that the thought began to dig up.

"Isn't it obvious?" She turned back to me. "Chefs are viewed as trash, even if some of them have high power levels. Only a few of them receive any form of respect, and my Mom gets even less because she's third class."

"What about your brother?"

"He decided that he wanted to study electronics instead of fighting," She literally gagged on the word. "I think he's just afraid. Both of them are. And that fear has laid a veil of shame on our family…. I'm going to take that veil off…"

Based on the intense expression that fell on her face, I figured that a change of topic was in order. Curiosity came over me, so I asked, "How many purges have you been on?"

"I've done 5 altogether."

I didn't reply immediately, my heart squeezing in my chest for a second. I tried to keep a straight face, deciding to change the subject again before she asked me how many purges that I'd done.

"So, do you have a plan on getting this egg?" I asked.

"Yes, but we'll have to get to the highest mountain first, and then scope out the Wyvern's lair. They'll all be hibernating, so it should be a piece of cake, as long as we don't make too much noise," She told me, before finally standing up. "You ready?"

I curled my tail around my body and slid my sword in between my body and tail, followed by my fruit. No Name stood up with me and stretched out her body.

"You'll have to pick up No Name. We're flying the rest of the way," She said.

I nodded my head and scooped No Name up into my arms before we began flying. Leeku could see the large, looming shadows of the mountains, but she couldn't distinguish between the sizes, so I led us until we got to a massive cave entrance. We both knew that it was the right place, merely from the fact that warmth seemed to generate from inside of the cave

Territory Alert!

You Are Now Entering Territory Ruled By Raphalos, King of the Wyvern!

She nodded at me, I nodded back, and then we went in. I pulled out my sword and held it defensively in front of me. Leeku held her dagger in her left hand and lifted her right hand in front of her, her energy flowing through it and lightening the cave up with pink light.

We walked for a while before we came across something. It was a large blue egg, but we both knew that it wasn't the egg that we were looking for. According to the words that popped up, there was an actual baby Wyvern in that egg, and in the many that we came across after that point. Eventually, we got to a point that the cave was covered with eggs.

That was when the cave opened up, and we found what we were looking for.

On top of a huge pillar of gold, a single large egg rested. Its color was deep gold, and it was hard to look away from. Surrounding it, many other normal-looking eggs lay, and underneath that, something breathed. I could tell by the way the 'ground' occasionally lifted and then dropped, that it wasn't actually crystal rock, but the body of some creature. By my guess, Raphalos.

Leeku's eyes were wide and sweat poured down her forehead, yet a smile spread across her face. She was scared, yet excited. I would never admit it, but my natural senses were screaming for me to get out of there, but I didn't want to look weak, so I stayed.

"I'll be right back," She whispered, before floating over towards the egg. I held my breath until she lifted it above her head and grinned down at me.

That was the moment that everything went wrong. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw No Name far away from me, scuttering towards the gold pillar. My eyes widened in alarm, but it was too late. I should have known that she was hungry and that a pillar of metal would attract her.

Her mouth opened wide, and she closed it, tearing a large piece off the pillar.

The air in the cave suddenly felt way too thick. The pillar tilted forward slightly, before completely toppling over towards me. I backed up quickly, thankful that because of its height, it collided with the cave wall above me and didn't crush me. The echo of the falling structure was extremely loud, exploding through the cave-like a shock wave.

Leeku was flying towards me before I'd even processed what had happened. She grabbed me by my arm and the next thing I knew, I was being dragged at high speeds in the direction of the exit.

"YOUR FUCKING WOLF GOT US KILLED!" She screamed as we flew.

Behind us, I could see some of the eggs cracking and shaking, as small claws burst from various parts. I gulped loudly, catching sight of No Name running for her life towards us.

"By the time I noticed her, it was too late!" I tried to defend myself, but Leeku didn't respond. She just kept flying at higher speeds. Eventually, the mouth of the cave came into view, and then, we were out in the night air.

"Maybe it didn't wake up! Maybe we're fi-"

The mountain shook violently and then the tip exploded.

A great beast flew out of the hole created by the explosion. It was humungous; easily 300 feet in its length. With a loud roar, it unfurled its golden wings and the wind suddenly increased, almost sending us flying. With its wings at either side of its body, it looked infinity bigger.

The body was a deep scarlet, with veins that looked like they were pumping gold instead of blood. It didn't have any arms, but its wings had large black claws that would probably turn me into a mist rather than pierce me. When it scanned the surface of the mountain, its eyes were reminiscent of lightning.

Kings Of Atross

Raphalos

Level - ?

HP - ? ? ?

Ki - ? ? ?

Power Level - ?

My body locked up at the numbers, but Leeku dragged us both behind a large crystal and out of sight of Raphalos. I slapped my hand over my mouth to stop the hyperventilating and tried to still my beating heart,

Why are all of its stats question marks?! My sword shook and trembled in my hand.

"Foolish creatures…"

The King of Atross spoke, and the mountain vibrated with it. Its voice was as deep as an ocean, yet clear as the seas. I glanced over at Leeku, whose face said it all. Along with the wide eyes and clear look of disbelief, goosebumps ran all across her exposed skin. The Golden Egg rested in one of her arms, and she held it tightly.

"So primitive…" It drawled on, with a voice that sounded older than time itself. "Did you truly think that you could steal from me? Me, the legendary Destroyer of Kings?"

It took several large steps, forcing us to fly a few inches off of the ground so that our bodies weren't thrown to the ground by the sheer power of the vibrations. No Name went low to the ground and dug her claws in to keep steady.

"You are merely bugs. If it wasn't for the fact that you have my precious heir, I would raze the surface of this mountain until no life remained."

"However," Rathalos growled. "I am not unreasonable. I have an offer that you'll do good to consider."

Leeku somehow managed to compose herself, because when I looked over at her, her dagger was aglow, and plunged into the ground. Does she have a plan?

"If you return my heir by sunrise, I will not draw out your death. I will not pin you down and have my children feast on your innards while you still breathe. I will give you a quick, painless death."

This only made her increase her speed. She dragged her blade in a circle, and when the circle was complete, the ground fell in and revealed an entrance into another cave. She slipped in, giving me a quick look before she did. I let No Name go first, before following.

"Be careful to consider my offer, foolish thieves."

I fell for a few seconds, before stopping myself and exhaling for the first time in what felt like forever. I stayed with both hands on my knees until I managed to compose myself enough to look around me.

The voice was gone, but Raphalos's presence was still felt. The cave system that we found ourselves in was likely connected to the same one that we had just come from, but for now, there weren't any signs of Wyverns. That didn't mean that they wouldn't come soon.

"Your. Fucking. Wolf. Almost. Killed. Us."

I stepped in front of No Name before the furious Leeku could tear off my party member's head. She glared at me, her eyes blazing a deeper red than I'd ever seen it.

"Killing No Name isn't going to solve our problem!" I argued. "We need to figure out how to give back that egg!"

"Give it back? It's mine now!" She took a step back and held the egg tighter than before. "We need to figure out how to escape."

"Did you see that thing?" I hissed, still trying not to speak too loud. "We can't escape from it!"

"Of course we can!"

"No, we can't!" I couldn't hold back my yell this time. "The Great Divide has nowhere to hide, so it'll see us for miles! It might even follow us all the way home!"

The realization dawned on her at that moment. Even still, I noticed a dangerous glint in her eyes. She didn't loosen her grip.

"You didn't tell me this was its child!" I pointed at the egg. "An actual Dragon Prince!"

"What the fuck did you think an egg was?" She asked, causing me to stop in my tracks and ponder the question. Before I could get far, she said, "Besides, you wouldn't have come if you'd known."

"Well, I don't want to die at 14!" I inhaled deeply, trying to calm my nerves. The desire to hit her, a desire that I'd never felt before in her case, exploded in me. I wanted to fight her, even though deep down I knew that she would wipe the floor with me. Plus, the egg was in her hand, and that was our only chance of maybe surviving.

"Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere," She said after my outburst. She scanned my expression, before saying, "And neither will fighting."

"You brought me to my death, I have the right to be angry," I said while tightening the grip on my sword.

"Be angry later. Right now, we need to think of a plan," She said. "The sunrise is coming."

Looking up through the hole that we had come in thought, I noticed that the night sky was slowly lightening. A jolt of panic surged through my body. I leaned against the closest wall for support, sliding down it until I was sitting down.

"How much time do we have?" I asked.

"About an hour…" She informed me.

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Well, there's no way that we can fight that thing, so there's only one real option," She slid down next to me while she spoke, "I'm not sure if it's real, but I was told that the Saiyan army built a tunnel from Omato village to the Tuffle main city before the Tuffles eventually extended their shields into the ground. If we're lucky, it'll still be there."

"It'd better be…"

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, review and tell me what you enjoyed! You passed the 10 review thing super fast! The next chapter will be out on Friday and depending on how many reviews this and the next get, I might release chapter 7 next Tuesday too. We'll see.!