Chapter 50: Black Tail Winged Serpent

In the West Branch, the sky seemed to split open as two wings seemed to appear in the sky, causing the temperature of the Furnace to gradually increase.

When the Furnace opened, Annibell had liked to tell her students the summer arrived, for this very reason. When the Furnace opened, thousands of strange phenomena occurred in the Furnace. Large Ki Storms sprayed dreams wantonly in random directions, Authoritarians would rise from the ground and enter into the Furnace to challenge other dominants for authority.

The Varlan would become active, traveling from place to place in search of Dream Beasts to capture and for rare minerals to sell to the Workalin. At the same time, new treasure troves would be left behind by the massive Authoritarians that gathered resources for centuries. However, inside the Furnace, that's where the true madness occurred.

The temperature in the open Furnace would be hot enough in some places to melt iron and cold enough in other places to freeze treasures for all eternity. Random explosions would rock the Furnace surface, as large amounts of Ki struck the ground from the sky. However, for the students in the Furnace, the most important thing had to be a chance to draw a trail in the sand, locking an area in place for hundreds of years.

Looking forward at the open Furnace, Howard noticed a colorful surge before thousands of beams of light seemed to slash in the earth. A gigantic wall of flames boiled in the horizon, causing the wings of light to disappear and chaos to seem to reign surpreme. Reaching forward, Howard suddenly felt a strange force coming his way, gently pushing him back as a large sand cloud shot passed him.

"What? What's happening?" Howard said, covering his eyes before a large bang seemed to push passed him "What is that noise?"

"That's the force of millions of Ki Particles getting shot out from a small point," Reece said, shielding her face from the whiplash of the pelting sand. "The-the Furnace absorbs energy at 100 points, and once a year one of those points explodes, causing the temperature of the entire Furnace to increase! It also illuminates a portion of the Furnace for a month. Hence, we call it the Furnace opening."

"It's beautiful," Jenny said, trembling. "This-this is so interesting. You mean-you mean Ki can explode like this, and not just cause rapid cell division. I-I've been working on something in the lab. Howard, before you leave today, can you come visit me in the experimental section of the West Branch? I want to test something."

"Is there anything I should know?" Monica had become one of Jenny's closest friends, but still didn't like how Howard and her had known each other since childhood. She also seemed to have an unnatural fascination with Howard that seemed to transform every few days. When she first got to the Furnace, she disdained him, and seemed to close off herself to even a look from his eyes. However, since yesterday, she seemed like an idea had taken over her, and now she looked at Howard with reverence and expectation.

Monica instantly grew worried, sensing some type of plot behind her beautiful, peaceful eyes.

"I-I'm confused. You actually are talking to me?" Howard said with a smile. "I thought you hated me because you thought I caused this! Since we lived so close together, and played at the same park when we were young."

"I-I don't hate you. It's just that Indell left me a note in my research about you. Is it true they killed you 300 times in prison and shot you 7 times a day? Is is true you watched your family die?"

"How dare you!" Monica said, stomping the ground. "Howard has feelings! You can't just surprise him with information like that!"

"They-they did," Howard said, smiling. "My father, he-he tried to protect my mom from them, but it didn't matter. His body only shielded the first 5 bullets, and then she fell down too. Heh, I've only hurt zombies, Exland Generals, and one magician. Never a human."

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," Jenny bowed her head to the ground. "I-I had no idea... that those people would shoot someone 300 times! I-I also looked at the experimental formulas they put in your body. I-I think they wanted to weaken you. If-if you want, I can fix it!"

"That's what those shots were for," Reece said, patting Howard on the back. "I was wondering why you're the only one that got shots. Annibell, did you agree that they could experiment on Horned?"

"Obviously not," Annibell said, pointing at the Furnace, "It's for that reason we got to hit them where it hurts. In the morning, I expect you all to head out after we survive the night."

"Survive?" Howard said, scratching his head. "How can we not survive? You four guardians are here."

"Well, for one, hundreds of Authoritarians are starting to come in our direction, look," Reslan pointed at a large two winged beast with three tails speeding through the strange haze in the sky. Shooting forward, its body had to be bigger than a mountain, causing a massive force to pervade against Howards body.

Seeing it move by, Howard felt a strange longing coming from its body. Speeding through the sky, a large cloud of dust appeared behind it, causing their vision to once again disappear into the shadows.

"That's a Black Tail Winged Serpent." Barabin crossed his arms, pointing at several more large forms ambling forward in the distance. "Those three are Six Meter Giant Toads, and the two over there are Green Rock Armored Jaguars." Barabin pointed to dozens of more Authoritarians that slowly approached them in different directions. "Anyways, as always, I'll build us some walls." Barabin yawned before holding up his hand, causing a gigantic mountain to swell out of the ground and branch in four directions, causing the world to turn dark around them.

Hearing the Authoritarians start to howl in the distance, Jenny started to tremble, instinctively grabbing Howard and Monica's hand as her legs began to buckle.

"They-they are so massive. You-you said they are Authoritarians."

"Yup, but nothing to be afraid of." Howard rubbed Jenny's back softly as her black hair parted in two behind her face. "Heh, they are big, but all of them are really nice. I can just feel it."

"We're going to have to test that Howard in the Furnace," Barabin said, shaking his head. "If you're right, and you can communicate with Authoritarians, we can take a short cut to the Ki Reservoir. If not, it will take us a week to get there."

"I promise," Howard held up his thumb, recalling an event that had happened with Barabin as the mountains around them rumbled. It had been a bright sunny day a few weeks ago when it happened during his training.

Howard had been working with Barabin on strengthening his body when a gigantic Authoritarian passed by in the middle of the day. Usually harmless, Barabin expected the Authoritarian to walk away, however, like an oversized dog, the Authoritarian seemed to be drawn to Howard.

With a lizard head hundreds of times Howard's entire body, its tongue reached out and licked him once, instantly causing his body to hear. Seeing this, Barabin couldn't believe his eyes, and asked Blake to research for weeks before he even got a semblance to a conclusion on what caused this.

Blake had said it was because of Howards ability to sense a special Ki Frequency, one that only Authoritarians knew, and because of this they felt his pain and treated him like a son because of his size.

Hence, to all the Authoritarians, Howard was like a small baby that had to be protected! Out of all the benefits Howard had, that had to be one of the most ridiculous he'd ever have expected!

"If I remember correctly, you said that the Authoritarians think of me as their child right? Isn't that super strange, hahaha!"

"Nothing is more strange than you," Harley said, rubbing his shoulder. "Now lets' go inside. We have one day to prepare"

"Howard, you coming," Monica said, grabbing Jenny's hand. "I-I want to you be at your hundred percent when we go into the Furnace! Jenny, you-you really think you can make Howard stronger?"

"Yes, it's actually pretty simple. I-I promise with one shot he'll at least be 25 percent stronger in the morning! It's-it's the least I can do for being such an asshole to him!"

"I think you're perfect," Howard said, "Even when you were mean to me, you still made me feel more at home."

"Stop flirting!" Monica grabbed his ear, and pulled him towards the West Branch with a smile on her face. "You-you're getting your shot and then we're going to bed! I-I want to do something with you tonight! And no, not that!"