Chapter 42: A horse?
The coldness on Jessica’s face intensified; for a moment, she seemed to have completely forgotten her pain.
It was then Ethan’s turn to wake up. The damage that he had received was no less severe than Jessica’s, even greater, but unlike her, after getting up he didn’t say a word. Instead, he looked down at his crotch area to confirm something. It was only after confirming that his little brother was safe that he started laughing like a madman.
"Thank God..."
"Haha, it’s safe..."
"I am alive..."
Ethan would have preferred death over living without it.
A reasonable decision.
It was then he noticed the completely obliterated chariot and the flattened surroundings. The smile on his face stiffened, his gaze finally stopping at Cole and Jessica in the silence.
A single question flew out of his mouth.
"...how?"
Cole simply spread his hands, indicating that he himself had no idea.
He was busy fusing both the bloodlines when things went south.
Then suddenly, a suffocating silence descended among the three, with no one speaking anything.
In this silence, Ethan scanned Jessica’s figure. Once he confirmed most of the suspicious wounds were superficial, he let out a sigh of relief. Whatever happened, at least what they were here for was completed.
But now, how to get out of here?
He wasn’t the only one with this thought. All this time, Cole had been thinking the same.
The chariot had been helping them through lightning strikes and wild animals blocking their way, but now it was gone. The journey back to Blessed Moon City was going to be difficult.
To make matters worse, they had no means of contacting back to the city to call for reinforcements, nor were there enough supplies to survive for a prolonged journey.
Soon the uneasiness in everyone’s head started to turn. Jessica was the first to speak. Her voice was frosty as ever, but this time it carried a hint of anxiousness.
"Walking isn’t an option. We will definitely not be able to make it in time."
Ethan stayed silent, listening to his elder sister’s words. He wanted to say, how were they to walk for hundreds of kilometers through such a dangerous environment? A single tempest wolf had already pushed them onto the brink of death, and if they walked back, the number they would encounter was bound to be...
It was then Cole took the lead. He looked toward the endless thunder clouds stretching for infinity, a solemn look on his face.
"We don’t have another choice..."
Hearing those words, the two siblings fell silent.
...
The three moved as a team, with Ethan at the front and Cole at the back. Between them was Jessica.
Slowly, step by step, they moved. Thankfully, both the Summers siblings were familiar with the Thunder Domain, so they were able to take safe routes, avoiding most of the monsters.
Just as everything was going well, misfortune hit.
Ethan stood to a stop at a steep hill, looking down below.
"Just our luck. This bridge is also broken in the last storm. It seems we have no choice but to pass through the Tempest Grassland..."
Hearing those words, Cole’s face darkened. He didn’t have enough knowledge about the Thunder Domain, but he knew one or two things about the Tempest Grassland.
An open area flanked by the two large mountain chains of the Thunder Domain, stretched over a large grassland field with dangerous flora and fauna.
...
The three turned their course, finally stopping to find themselves standing upon an endless stretch of golden grass waving with the wind. For mere grass, it was quite tall, easily reaching their waists.
Just as Cole was about to take another step forward—
Jessica’s voice reverberated beside his ears.
"Don’t. You will hurt yourself. This grass, having withstood countless lightning storms over time, stores a large amount of current, electrocuting anything that gets too close to them."
Cole heard her warning and frowned. Although she was warning him, he was starting to get annoyed. During the entire journey, she had been warning him again and again.
He wanted to say, What are you, my mother? But in the end, he couldn’t bring himself to say those words. After all, this woman might have saved his life.
Taking a deep breath to get rid of the annoyance, he looked directly into her eyes and said,
"Don’t worry about me..."
Saying those words, he moved forward, ignoring her gaze.
Just as she said, as soon as Cole got in the grass’s vicinity, a golden flash of flying electricity burst through the grass stalks, hitting Cole’s hand.
Ethan looked at this scene and openly mocked him.
"This is what you get for ignoring my elder sister’s kind words—"
However, before he could finish speaking those words, Ethan’s mouth stopped midway, not a single word escaping his lips.
"What in the world...?"
Ethan’s eyes widened like saucers while staring at Cole’s figure.
Instead of being burned by the lightning, Cole remained completely fine. Even when hit by multiple lightning arcs, the thing seemed to have no effect on him.
Not caring about Ethan’s shock, Cole moved deeper into the grassland. The number of electric strikes that he received increased steadily. However, instead of pain, he only felt a sense of intense relief and fullness, as after eating a satisfying meal. When the lightning struck him, a force emerged from deep within him, breaking down the lightning into pure energy for use. This pure energy turned into nourishment that strengthened Cole’s body from within.
However, most of this nourishment was aimless, moving everywhere.
Cole took note of this and thought, If I had a proper cultivation technique, I would have been able to direct most of this energy toward my veins...
He didn’t give up. Instead, he made a few tweaks in all he had managed. Though it was not perfect, now he could direct most of the nourishment toward his veins, strengthening them. With each lightning strike, Cole could feel a sensation of energy through his body as his veins strengthened and widened slowly. From time to time, faint sparks of electricity could also be seen coursing through them, mixed with blood.
Suddenly, Cole came to a halt, his ears twitching intensely.
Far away...
A loud neigh echoed through the grassland.
Hearing that sound, a confused look appeared on his face.
A horse? In this dangerous place, how?