Chapter 22: Gregaaze the Fire Dragon King 2
Gregaaze immediately shouted out,"Stelaaze! Get behind me! That's the Giant Ghost Tiger! It is extremely dangerous, even for older brother!"
Stelaaze didn't hesitate and quickly got behind Gregaaze as she had met his older brother and he was very strong. Gregaaze were the descendants of the dragon that had its potential unlocked, so they retained a portion of that blessing, an inheritance of some kind. It would get smaller over the generations until it would disappear, usually about 10 generations until the boost was no longer active. Gregaaze's brother, Heraldaaze, was incredibly powerful and his pure strength is enough to even rival some elders in the clan. Gregaaze was already much more nimble, agile, and quick-witted than most and had instead gone down the path of speed whereas his brother had gone for pure strength. Neither choice was particularly wrong.
Gregaaze quickly turned around, grabbed Stelaaze and threw her over his shoulder and sped off from the scene as fast as he could.
However, how could the Gigantic Ghost Tiger that just caught its prey so easily let is escape like that? The Gigantic Ghost Tiger sneered at the would be escapee prey and pounced after them at full speed.
Ghost TIger quickly caught up with them as even with insane speed of Gregaaze, he was no match for this king of the forest. The Giant Ghost Tiger whipped its head around a tree and caught Gregaaze with one its teeth as it ripped flesh and muscle off of Gregaaze's right arm.
Gregaaze screamed in pain,"Aaarrghghh!!" And was forced to drop Stelaaze because of the agonizing wound. The Giant Ghost Tiger circled them and eyes up its prey once more, trying to see if they have any other tricks up their sleeves.
Gregaaze was in an incredible amount of pain but his instincts as a man, although still a child, rose to his mind. He must save his friend, his new girl that he adored, he must not let her die here!
It was at this moment that his willpower to survive and protect Stelaaze, even in this dire situation spiked through the roof and he forcefully shattered the seal on his potential boost!
Gregaaze could feel himself instantly get stronger, but what he really felt was that his body had adapted not like his brothers with strength, but exactly as he wanted, as a being built for speed. He could tell he could be more streamlined, he might have a chance here, not to run, but to survive.
Gregaaze sized the Giant Ghost Tiger up once more and then disappeared from his spot in an instant!
The Giant Ghost Tigers eyes shot up in surprise and he quickly turned and pawed at a seemingly empty spot! This spot was actually where Gregaaze was currently and the Giant Ghost Tiger just barely missed him!
Gregaaze cursed,"Drucus!*1 Even with this you can still catch up?! Crazy Bastard!" (*1 - Drucus: Dragon Feces) nove)lb/1n
His complexion was starting to drain as this was his first time using the boost and he was not properly attuned to it, so he was burning through energy much faster than he should, on top of his horrible arm injury.
He quickly sped off and the tiger would occasionally swing and miss bur was starting to become better at it. The Giant Ghost Tiger was also getting better at finding Gregaaze as time went on, and Gregaaze had yet to be able to land even a single glancing hit!
This showed the mighty power of the Giant Ghost Tiger, who was famous among the young adult dragons as a worthy opponent for its extremely sharp reflexes and its clawing speed that made its attacks seem like a mirage or a ghost.
Finally, after over ten times of missing, the Giant Ghost Tiger finally managed to hit Gregaaze! It clipped his back with its razor sharp claws and managed another grievous wound, which also sent him flying back in the direction of Stelaaze.
Stelaaze shouted out worriedly,"Gregaaze! Are you ok?! Please don't die!!"
Gregaaze however was not able to hear her as the hit had knocked out his hearing and the bloodless finally caught up to him as he was finding difficulty in moving.
Stelaaze didn't know what to do, should she interfere? She wasn't supposed to, but if she didn't, this Tiger would try to make her its lunch. She wasn't scared for herself as she was Immortal, but she was scared for Gregaaze as he was a good friend and she didn't want to have to watch him die.
The Giant Ghost Tiger now slowly approached the downed Gregaaze and Stelaaze, wary of any other surprises.
Meanwhile in Gregaaze's mind he was contemplating how he could possibly beat a foe such as this. The only thought that came up was the story his father had told him when he was 50 years old. About an experience he had when his potential was unlocked.
"I don't know what it was, but I could feel the energy of the fire and lava coming from within the Volcano we dwell next too. The energy, as far I could tell, was neither helping nor hindering me, but it was circulating within me as well. I could not understand what it was, but I had a theory that this is the energy of the world that gives us life. If I could somehow find a way to use that, what would it do for me?"
Gregaaze tried to feel the connection his father talked about, and even though they were about 4 miles away, Gregaaze could also subtly feel the energy of fire and lava brimming beneath the surface.
Gregaaze with nothing to lose, focused on this energy with his life on the line, his final and only hope out of this desperate situation. He could feel the energy running around his system. It started from his feet then to his waist, split into two and went down the arms before rejoining and rushing to the head where it then did the same thing but in reverse.