Chapter 101: Order created from Chaos
The morning light struggled to pierce the dense canopy of the Tigerwood Forest, casting long and flickering shadows across the wooden floor of his room.
Kale Ardentis sat at his stone table, his light green hair falling over his shoulders as he reviewed the previous day’s combat data. Beside him, Neo remained coiled in a tight ball, his matte black scales absorbing the dim glow of the specialised lamps.
The Nemesis Hydra was still recovering from the ego-bruising defeat in the trenches, but the steady beat of his four hearts indicated he was ready for more.
Kale stood up and adjusted his white coat, checking the edge of his mana-enhanced daggers before signalling the beast. It was time to return to the lower trenches for the second phase of their terrestrial training.
The journey toward the southern sector was faster this time, as Kale moved with a fluid and predatory grace that reflected his evolution into a Hexarion Human.
His senses were perpetually scanning for any lingering Ravager rank threats, utilising the passive benefits of his Dragon Bane title to map the surrounding forest.
He had selected a specific target for today’s exercise: a sprawling nest of Scaled Crawlers located deep within a damp ravine.
These creatures were pure lizard types, possessing a skeletal structure and muscle distribution that closely mirrored Neo’s current chameleon form. Kale believed that by observing how these natural lizards moved, Neo could accelerate his understanding.
It was a strategy born of necessity, because the rare Black Chameleons were too scarce to be relied upon for consistent devouring.
The Black Crater had already been cleared of its inhabitants, leaving no other known colonies of that specific species within a safe distance. Therefore, fighting lizard-type beasts in massive quantities was the only viable path to progress.
"One step at a time, buddy," Kale whispered as they reached the edge of the ravine. "Observe their pivots and watch how they distribute their weight when they lunge without using wings."
Neo hissed from all three maws, his six golden eyes narrowing as he peered down into the nest with a mixture of arrogance and focus.
This particular colony was far larger than any they had encountered previously, teeming with hundreds of Feral-rank crawlers and more than five Alpha-rank leaders.
Kale ordered Neo to go forward, but his command carried a new layer of tactical restraint. This time, they would not be overbearing or reckless in their approach.
The plan was simple yet demanding for the young hydra. Neo was to clear out the bulk of the hundreds of Feral-rank creatures first, using their sheer numbers to settle his grounding and terrestrial reflexes. Only after the fodder was dealt with would they take on the five Alpha-rank leaders one by one.
This approach was designed to force Neo into a prolonged state of focus, preventing him from relying on raw draconic power to end the fight instantly. Neo lunged into the ravine, his wedge-shaped heads snapping at the first line of defenders.
As expected, the struggle returned immediately, as the lack of wings left him vulnerable to the crawlers’ coordinated snapping.
The lizards moved in a synchronised, insect-like swarm, their bodies clicking against one another as they swarmed the black intruder. Their skin was like obsidian, and their eyes were small, needle-like points of white light that tracked Neo’s every stumble.
They did not fear the tiny hydra, seeing only a strange lizard trespassing in their territory.
Neo struggled to maintain his balance on the uneven stone of the ravine. Without his wings to act as stabilisers or a source of lift, he was forced to rely on his four thickened limbs.
Every time a crawler lunged at his side, Neo had to pivot his entire frame, a motion that was still clumsy and unrefined compared to the natural predators he faced.
However, there was one sneaky advantage to Neo’s current form that Kale had been eager to test in a large-scale melee. In his original Hydra state, Neo possessed an almost impenetrable defence that ensured he rarely bled during a skirmish. His shimmering green scales acted as a divine armour that reflected most feral strikes with ease.
In the Black Chameleon state, that defence was significantly reduced, allowing the Scaled Crawlers actually to find purchase with their teeth and claws. The beasts that fought Neo often sought to devour his blood as it spilt onto the forest floor.
They saw the vibrant green fluid as a source of energy, unaware of the biological disaster it contained.
This was a fatal mistake for any native predator of Nergal. Neo was a chimeric entity created through the concept of taking an abominal abomination to its absolute perfection, a creature that shouldn’t exist according to the World Will.
He represented the concept of supreme order, which was birthed from a greater generation of pure chaos.
His green blood was a volatile mixture of countless powerful creatures, including the Tyrant-rank Red Dragon and the Dark Octagon. Upon digestion of this monstrous fluid, any lesser beast would go through a violent and irreversible biological failure.
The sheer density of conflicting traits within the blood acted like a genetic poison to mundane species.
Kale watched with cold and analytical eyes as a cluster of three lizards bit into Neo’s flanks. Within seconds, the lizards began to spasm uncontrollably, their muscles liquefying and their mana circuits rupturing as Neo’s blood began its work.
They collapsed into heaps of twitching flesh, their internal structures unable to handle the draconic and octagonal variables.
The Hydra used this inherent advantage to great effect, allowing himself to be nipped and scratched to bait more enemies into the trap. It was a gruesome but effective method of crowd control that thinned the horde without requiring a high expenditure of Beast Force.
Kale noted the efficiency of the tactic, recording the data for future refinements in the Gene Lab.
As the battle progressed, Neo’s battle prowess improved with every action and every mistake he made. He began to mimic the low centre of gravity used by his opponents, shifting his weight across his four limbs with increasing efficiency.
He was no longer just a winged beast on the ground, but was slowly becoming a terrestrial predator.
The hundreds of Feral rank beasts were eventually reduced to a carpet of twitching and rotting corpses. Neo stood in the centre of the ravine, his obsidian scales slick with a mixture of his own green blood and the dark ichor of his fallen foes.
The air was thick with the scent of copper and the rot of biological failure.
"Now for the leaders," Kale commanded, his voice echoing off the stone walls of the ravine.
The five Alpha-rank lizards emerged from the shadows of the burrows, their scales reinforced with jagged bone plates and their eyes glowing with elemental malice. They had watched their kin die and were now wary of the black anomaly.