Chapter 285: Changing the Land’s Presence

7400 kilometres southeast to Marble City was a massive continent. Further southeast, at the tip of the continent, a tiny Frenzy Beast was flying. It was smaller than a human but seething from it was tremendous power.

It flew into a territory that was burning in fire, quickly shielding itself with a psychic arm. it unleashed its domain, sensing the presence of the figure it was searching in the land of fire. Seated on a large rock, the remains of a mountain—the tallest peak on the continent—was a humanoid figure.

Seeing its arrival, the humanoid figure turned around, looking amicable as it spoke with a gentle tone, "What is the matter, Crash?"

Tier 6 Frenzy Beast—Crash Bandicoot!

It was termed Psychic Ancestor Crash. It was one of the oldest Ancestors, having reached Tier 6 even before Rhachis Ancestor Dawn. It was one of the four Frenzy Beasts that guarded Rhachis Ancestor Parasite.

Psychic Ancestor Crash dared not descend on the ground, feeling fear from the flames that burned. It hovered 600 metres above ground, positioning itself a level below the line of sight of the other party, displaying its position in the hierarchy.

It responded with a humble bow, "Sheep managed to make a recovery. It was really hard, but I was barely able to extract all the aura of Light and Marble from its body. Sheep will be able to use its Unranked Skill now."

The humanoid figure waved its hands, beckoning for Psychic Ancestor Crash to come closer. As it obeyed, the humanoid figure pointed at the ground, "What do you think of it?"

Psychic Ancestor Crash gazed at the intense flames burning on the ground, shuddering in fear. It subconsciously tightened the psychic energy barrier around it, even going to the extent overlaying it with another psychic arm.

It then controlled its trembling, unleashing its domain to probe into it. After a while, its body trembled even more, speaking in a hurry, "Even after eight months, this land still burns. Shockingly, this effect is brought about by his aura alone."

The flames raged forth, reaching a height of 20 metres. Flame tongues wriggled, sometimes reaching as high as 30 metres, swirling into a spiral upon reaching their peak as they fell back. Psychic Ancestor Crash observed it, trying to find a countermeasure.

It unleashed its aura, overlaying its aura personification atop. Instantaneously, the height of the flames reduced by two centimetres while the flame tongues curled into spheres that exploded like bubbles and dissipated into heat.

It continued its actions, finding that no matter what it did, the height of the flames no longer decreased. Seeing its struggles, the humanoid figure sighed, "As expected of the idiot four, useless as always."

It then motioned for Psychic Ancestor Crash to look at the hill it sat upon. Psychic Ancestor Crash obeyed, sending a psychic arm through the hill. But, the moment it touched the surface, it felt tremendous resistance preventing its psychic arm from seeping even a millimetre deep.

Seeing the situation, Psychic Ancestor Crash realised something as it looked at the foot of the hill. Flames still burned intensely but the higher they climbed the hill, the weaker they got. Eventually, they fully dissipated halfway up the 600 metres tall hill.

But, the heat was still transmitted through the hill, all the way to the peak. Just by probing with its psychic arm around the spot the humanoid figure was seated on, it screamed in fright, "It's hot! My body would melt within seconds if I come into contact with it."

The humanoid figure waved its hand, motioning for it to shut up. It then gently retracted its aura, starting from its farthest reach. Psychic Ancestor Crash noticed the flames around the perimeter grow higher, their intensity of heat emission even rose by a notch.

Slowly, starting from the perimeter, the flames rose like a column, following the receding of the humanoid figure's aura. Soon, its aura had reached the foot of the hill.

Psychic Ancestor Crash disappeared from its spot, hovering a kilometre above the ground in fear as it watched the flames reach as high as 400 metres. It was a literal sea of flames.

As for the hill the humanoid figure sat on, except for 20 metres around it, everything was on fire. It looked at Psychic Ancestor Crash, its toothless, tongueless mouth curling down, "I have been suppressing its effect for the past eight months while learning about it. But all I could manage till now is to suppress it a little. The intensity of the flames hasn't decreased even a fraction from back then. In fact, it seemed to have increased in size and intensity."

The humanoid figure punched the air once, directing it towards the sea of flames. Powerful winds were stirred up as a result, surpassing the speed of sound. The shockwave was like a stream of water as it passed through the sea of flames, parting way, eradicating everything in its path.

Though, a second later, flames converged upon the gap, filling it up, destroying all traces of its attack. The humanoid figure said in a placid tone, "Dawn somehow managed to infuse his aura into this land, changing its very presence. Now, this land has the same presence as Dawn and will continue to generate flames."

It facepalmed, sighing once, "Mind, Soul, Aura, and Parasite. Of the four power systems, Mind and Soul hasn't been explored much. But at least, humans had Gajara Rahi to pioneer in the system of Soul."

"Even in the Parasite system, a field I ought to have absolute advantage of, the reality is different. Thanks to that bastard, humanity has Wisdom Parasites to lean on. The only reason we have the lead is because the parasite system is the base required to explore the other three systems."

Its voice was tinged with faint killing intent as it gazed at Psychic Ancestor Crash, "Now, humanity has surpassed us in the aura system. Dawn's grasp of aura has surpassed even mine. He is now capable of changing the presence of the very earth we live on. Do you understand its implications?"

"Yes," Psychic Ancestor Crash nodded feebly, trembling in fear the more it listened to Rhachis Ancestor Parasite's conjectures.

Suddenly, a voice echoed around them, "I have arrived, Ancestor."

From the sea, a massive head peaked out. Just the head alone surpassed 300 metres in size. It was akin to a mythical dragon as it emerged from the water, rising up and up. No matter how much it rose, its neck seemed never-ending.

The humanoid figure nodded at it, "Try to see if Ingrained Earth can get anything from this, Earth."

Just when it was about to nod in reply, the ocean water churned, splashing out like a tsunami, reaching as high as 80 metres. Gently rising from within was a familiar sheep with a body the size of a mountain.

Upon its entry, the splashed water fell on the fiery earth, producing copious amounts of mist. Faint explosions rang out here and there, a result of the fight between fire and water.

Child of Frenzy, Tier 6 Frenzy Beast—Colossal Bawling Sheep!

It unleashed its aura, countering the fire atop pouring in water from the ocean. Rhachis Ancestor Earth began to work in conjunction, trying its methods to suppress and understand the root cause. Suddenly, lava spewed out from the ground, negating their efforts.

Rhachis Ancestor Earth exerted its influence, pushing the lava back into the earth before starting to seal it up. But, irrespective of what they did, the sea of flames refused to die. Even after being covered by water, they burned, causing explosions while generating tremendous volumes of steam.

The fire raged, burning in high intensities. Moreover, it wasn't a simple flame that could be put out with water. It was generated by aura, the presence exhibited by the very land they were on. Unless the presence was negated or annihilated, it would be impossible to put out the fire.

…

7000 kilometres north of their continent was colder lands, partially layered by snow. Frenzy Beasts were abundant, forming massive groups as they rushed towards a certain direction. It was evening now, with night approaching.

It was starting to dim, with stars blanketing the skies, twinkling in everlasting radiance. Soon, it had darkened, but the Frenzy Beasts continued to rush forward, braving the cold winds that sought to freeze their fleshly bodies.

Eventually, they came across a bright source of light, making it seem as if time had flowed in reverse and they had returned to the time of evening. Warm winds brushed past them, alleviating their numbness as the cold in their bodies receded.

To their front, separated by a long distance was a massive fiery dome, shining with resplendent light, like a gem in the night. It was one of the strongholds of humanity.

Dawn City!

The moment they spotted it, the Frenzy Beasts sprinted towards it in frenzy, leaking out drool while emitting a bloodthirsty aura that condensed and turned corporeal, planning to break into the city's defences.

Seated in the city's centre, located within a seven tiled pagoda was an old man. He gazed, looking over the approaching Frenzy Beasts, unfazed at their presence. His gaze extended beyond the horizon, burning with intense, congealable hatred. "The land is part of our foundation. Without space to develop, anyone would be eventually snuffed out from existence. I will never allow you to deal with my flames."

"The feeling of losing our homes and having to migrate to survive, I'll let you experience it as many times as I can, Parasite."