Freedom Jumper-Chapter 162: Sleeping Beauty

Without so much as a thought, Elijah flew against the harsh winds that threatened to tear the runes off his body, and flew into the direction of the floating island.

Moving closer allowed him to get a better look at what lies atop, and also the many cave entrances that are within its earthen foundation.

The rumors of a mana geyser he had heard while walking around the camp had finally begun to make sense. Visible currents of wind created a vacuum in the specific area that held the floating island in place. And in the near distance, were hundreds of different sized rocks and boulders scattered on the ground.

"Oh... now that is something I would never expect!"

Flying above the island didn't take long, and once above, a large reptilian figure was seen lying still on a massive rock.

'Perhaps lifeless?' Elijah thought.

This rock was more of a platform that sat in the midst of a light hilly forest.

Not knowing the word in Kotun, Elijah expressed his guess in English.

"Dragon?" Laying soundlessly on a tan-colored rock, was a green, brown, and black dragon slightly curled into an arc. Its scaled and horned head was gently resting on its claws, while its eyes were glued shut — unperturbed and entranced by the peace of the surroundings.

Elijah began to guess if its green and brown scales meant this dragon was that of the natural world. Bearing the affinities related to nature. Its tail curved into a loose coil, revealing its different sized spikes along the path to the arrowhead tip.

"Hmmm... I guess I shouldn't get any closer." The moment Elijah had said those words, his body flawlessly fell to the floor, and inbetween the gap of a few trees. Elijah's hands felt like they were touching the stars while staring at the sky he yearned to touch.

While tragedy and horrid creatures followed him wherever he ended up, his travels were always filled with beautiful sights.

Elijah regained control of his body 40 feet before touching the ground, and felt the tip of his thoracic spine gently touch the dark grassy floor.

"Time to get a better look."

Moving his hand across the border of wind gave him a similar feeling to Astraea, making him wonder what it took for something like this to be created.

Likely, this hold led somewhere deep, somewhere close to The Void. The dense amount of mana combined with pressure, creates a geyser that would continually flow, which eventually created a floating island.

It is almost as if the earth is rupturing as we speak, the mana that has been integrating with this planet since the dawn of its creation is slowly causing the planet to explode...

Or maybe, everything is as stable as it can be, and these geyser's are a way of keeping the balance through the release of pressure.

Similar to the Spout of Orneas!

Or perhaps, it's simply what occurs when an energy as unknown as mana integrates itself into a planet. Similar to the torrential waves of the ocean, wild and deep cave systems, towering trees that can't handle their growth rate, and abnormal amounts of random cracks and protrusions through the terrain.

"Okay... I need to think this over before I make any rash decisions. I know I am struggling right now because of the events that had just occurred, and the still lingering depression that came from... Damn. I can't even get myself to say it."

"This is a new life! I shouldn't care as everything in Astraea was out of my control—"

Another seed of guilt entered his mind while thinking back to the waterfall chasm, and the fact he had hidden his powers the entire time.

"Maybe Novius and Alexia haven't even died yet? Maybe they can still be saved?"

Elijah continued on his path of flying above the trees while noticing the lesser consumption of mana. Immediately, he attributed it to the mana geyser, which he believed would give him the ability to fly forever as long as he stayed nearby. Of course, this would be without the invisible runes taking a constant portion of his mana.

Movement was seen within the trees, northeast of the Godhand Outpost.

While zooming above the treeline, he noticed a family of large bears in the numbers of 5 to 7.

Part of him wanted to engage in this fight, but another part of him didn't want to destroy the family they spent time creating...

However, this thought was quickly removed from his mind as he saw the bears engage in combat with a group of oversized moose.

Standing tall with muscular legs were brown and black furred moose, with antlers made of a shiny metal material.

The bears who were conjuring ice around their claws were charging head on into the herd. In turn, causing a small-scale war between rivaling beasts.

Bam!

Birds flapped their wings in an effort to escape the nearby area, while small rabid squirrels escaped into the heights of the towering pine trees.

Just now, a moose had effortlessly bore multiple holes into a bear that was attacking its pack. It was obviously the father, and was not afraid to show off the metal that was extended from its extravagant antlers.

"Looks like I have a show to watch... But, if I can jump in at the right time, I have a chance at harvesting some beast cores!"

Zipping through the air, Elijah targeted the biggest of the bunch, the father of the moose's.

Boom!

A single punch caused a divot in its rib to form, and also caused a loud cry to erupt — sending everything in the near distance into distress.

"Oh shit!" Elijah quickly backed away into the cover of the trees. "I don't think I hit it hard enough!"

BOOM!

Blood was finally able to splatter against the floor, creating a vivid picture for the herd to witness. For a reason that made sense, every single one of them stood still, staring at their leader in disbelief. A rather weird action for a beast...

Then, came the sounds of sadness. A cry bounced off the dense forest, and caused both packs to scatter.

Elijah went after the bears as a tinge of revenge was felt within his soul. The same bears that had riddled him with holes were now going to feel the wrath of Elijah's deep-seeded hatred. At least most of them...

This game that Elijah was playing became far too easy. Every single punch directed at the head of the bear smashed its brains into nothing, and gave him time to dig around in the chest cavity for a large glowing crystal.

Over and over again, a wicked smile filled with a few ignored tears was drawn onto his face.

After about thirty minutes of the same task over and over, Elijah had accumulated 7 orange beast cores from the ice bears, and a single and large yellow beast core from the metallic moose!

To think that he had been told to get rest was unthinkable! He had just killed 8 beasts all by himself without receiving so much as a scratch!

"I know I have no intention of showing my flight power to anyone, but maybe, I will show them my strength. Although, from now on, I will focus on using my water affinity..."

Secretly, Elijah returned to the Godhand Outpost after spending 3 minutes trying to find an empty spatial storage for his beast cores.

This time, he was greeted with a strong smell of seasoned meat. A natural earthy smell consisting of an assortment of herbs, and a decent amount of black pepper!

"Ok! Hurry up and gather the people! Dinner is being served!" Said a cook dressed in white clothing with specks of dust and dirt littered about.

That same cook caught Elijah in his peripheral view. "Hey kid! What are you doing?"

"Nothing! Just waiting for my team to come back!" Elijah responded quickly as he desired to match the energy of everyone talking nearby. The environment was filled with action, carriages full of people, and resources were being unloaded nearby.

"Help them unload! It's a bunch of different beast corpses, cores, and herbs! You can handle the light stuff!"

Elijah did not protest, and quickly began walking towards the large carriage. "Will do!"

Wooden boxes full of overflowing herbs were stacked in the arms of Elijah, and without any recollection of where to place these, he followed the older boy who had just previously grabbed similar looking boxes.

"You can set them down here..." The older boy said pointing at the corner of a tent.

Elijah gave a simple nod.

"Are you new here?" The boy asked while rearranging different sets of herbs on top of a wooden table.

"Yes, I came here on an adventure mission this afternoon. Just a few hours ago."

"My name is Peter, I am a potion expert that usually resides in Sefrah." Peter stood his hand out in a formal manner considering the environment, and shook Elijah's hand tightly.

"Elijah, I'll be going to the Northern Sefrah Academy in the second quarter." Elijah took a long stare into Peter's green eyes. Something felt different about them, especially with his contrasting black hair.