Solar Blood Masters

A loud thud erupted through the icy tunnel, followed by the sound of a heavy body hitting the ground. Footsteps approached the fallen creature, and a trail of crimson blood began to seep from its wounds, flowing towards an outstretched hand.

The blood entered the palm, revealing the owner to be Gerald, his armor and face splattered with gore. Tajmani emerged from the shadows behind him, her clothes were similarly stained with the evidence of a recent battle.

“That Blood Howler was quite a nuisance,” Gerald commented as he wiped his blood-soaked hand on his armor.

“Indeed. It took far too long to subdue,” Tajmani added with a hint of annoyance.

They glanced around, taking in their surroundings. They had arrived in a large, cavernous chamber where multiple tunnels converged to this location.

Pah! Pah! Pah!

Footsteps echoed from one of the tunnels, and moments later, Tien Ha emerged, followed by Lin and Mei. Unlike Gerald and Tajmani, they were remarkably clean.

“You look like you had a… rough time,” Tien Ha remarked, raising an eyebrow at the blood-soaked duo.

“Those Ice Burrowers were surprisingly agile,” Gerald explained with a grimace. “They kept phasing in and out of the ice, making them difficult to hit. We had to resort to a messy solution.”

“A messy solution that got us covered in blood.” Tajmani was still frustrated by the ordeal.

The group regrouped and shared their experiences from the past few minutes. They had encountered various creatures within the tunnels, each with unique abilities and challenges. But so far, they had not located the mother Crimson Fang Hound.

“Has the boy emerged yet?” Gerald inquired while glancing back towards the tunnel Raphael had entered.

Tien Ha replied. “No sign of him. Do you think he’s fallen prey to some beast?”

“Most likely,” Lin said with a shrug. “He wasn’t exactly the strongest among us.”

“He was nothing but a useless dog,” Mei echoed Lin’s sentiment.

Tajmani, however, was more concerned about her belongings than Raphael’s well-being. “I hope he didn’t damage my luggage.”

“Should we wait for him?” Gerald sense of responsibility was conflicting with their mission.

Tien Ha shook his head. “We can’t afford to delay any longer. The mother hound is likely wounded and vulnerable. We must press our advantage.”

He pointed towards a long, narrow passage that opened up at the far end of the chamber. A faint glow emanated from within, hinting at something beyond.

“That’s our only path forward,” Tien Ha stated.

Tajmani sniffed the air. Her keen sense of smell picked up a familiar scent. “The mother hound is definitely up ahead.”

Without hesitation, she started running down the passage.

“Princess, don’t be so rash.” Tien Ha and her companions following close behind.

As they moved deeper, they noticed that the icy ground beneath their feet was gradually thawing. The temperature was also rising. The glow at the end of the tunnel grew brighter with each step they took.

What awaited them at the end of this strange, warming tunnel?

Tajmani and the others reached the end of the passage where a vast chamber that stole their breath away. Before them lay a large pond of liquid fire of immense size and power. The atmosphere shimmered with heat, and tendrils of steam rose towards the ceiling, where they condensed and formed into sharp, ice-like stalactites that hung like a menacing chandelier.

Strange, crimson-barked trees with fiery leaves grew along the edges of the pool with their roots submerged in the molten liquid. Fish with scales that like molten gold swam within the fiery depths, seemingly impervious to the intense heat.

“There’s a Fire Pool here? And it’s so expansive?” Gerald was stunned. He had never encountered anything like it before during his Blood Forest exploration.

Fire Pools were a relatively recent phenomenon on Gaia. Ever since the sun had returned and the ice had begun to melt, these pools of molten energy had started appearing all over the planet, slowly thawing the frozen landscape. They were considered breeding grounds for various creatures that had been frozen for eons, rare treasures were often found within their fiery depths, and they also possessed potent healing energy and Solar Essence, which was highly beneficial for cultivation.

The reason empires like the Allucar and Earthling Empire were growing in power and influence was due to the abundance of Fire Pools within their territories. The Bloodthorne Empire, however, was shielded by the Dark Dome, which had limited the emergence of Fire Pools within their borders. This was why Gerald and Tien Ha were surprised to discover such a large and active Fire Pool deep within the Blood Forest.

“This is… unexpected,” Tien Ha expressed his shock. “I must report this to the elders when we return.”

“Look!” Tajmani’s excited outburst interrupted him. She pointed towards the center of the Fire Pool.

There, partially submerged in the molten liquid, lay the wounded Crimson Fang Hound mother. Her white fur was singed with blood. She whimpered softly, and was trembling from exhaustion and pain.

“What’s that?” Lin pointed at a swirling vortex of fire that surrounded the hound.

Tien Ha’s eyes widened in recognition. “She’s absorbing the Fire Pool’s essence to heal herself.”

And indeed, as they watched, the hound’s wounds began to slowly close. The gash on her face, where Tajmani had stabbed her with the broken fang, was gradually knitting itself back together into a functioning eye ball.

“No! I won’t let her heal!” Tajmani yelled in frustration.

The hound’s Solar Consciousness was within her grasp, and she was not about to let it slip away. She materialized her twin Blood Swords and charged towards the Fire Pool.

“Princess, stop!”

Gerald reacted swiftly. He grabbed Tajmani by the arm and tossed her back with surprising force.

“Oof!”

She landed on her backside with a thud.

Lin and Mei gasped. Even they were taken aback by Gerald’s rough treatment of the princess.

Tajmani scrambled to her feet. She was flipping enraged. “How dare you—”

“Silence!” Tien Ha’s sharp command cut her off.

The ladies were puzzled. Why were the usually stoic Silver Blood Knights suddenly so serious?

The answer came a moment later.

“AWOOOOOOOOOOO!”

The Crimson Fang Hound mother let out a powerful howl that caused ripples to spread across the surface of the Fire Pool. Then, slowly, two golden horns emerged from the fiery depths followed by a deep, booming voice that resonated through the chamber.

“Oi, little minx, why have you awakened me from my slumber…?”

The horns were followed by a massive, muscular body, covered in golden-bronze furs. Two glowing red eyes opened that burnt with an ancient fury. Liquid fire dripped from its form, and sizzled as it hit the pool. The creature was enormous. It dwarfed even the Crimson Fang Hound mother. It possessed a terrifying presence that made the very air crackle with energy.

“What… What is that thing?” Tajmani whispered to her friends, who were equally stunned.

“A… Golden Bull Thork?” Tien Ha and Gerald spoke in unison. Dread was evident in their voices.

…

“Huff… huff…”

Raphael emerged from the tunnel bruised and battered, but his spirit unbroken. He leaned heavily against the icy wall, using his left hand, which left a faint trail of blood as he dragged it along the rough surface for support.

His clothes bore the gruesome evidence of his recent battle with the Vampire Slugs. Patches of red marked his skin where the acidic slime had burned him, but thankfully, the Blood Replenishing Potion had done its job, and the pain had subsided to a dull ache. Despite his injuries, he still carried Tajmani’s heavy bag slung over his shoulder.

Wasn’t he so dutiful or perhaps he feared her wrath.

“Finally, I can see again.”

He blinked until his eyes adjusted to the relative brightness of the cavernous chamber. The darkness of the tunnel had been oppressive, and the sudden influx of light, though faint, was almost blinding.

His gaze drifted to the right where a mangled corpse lay sprawled on the ground. It was a creature unlike any he had ever seen before, with elongated body and a gaping maw filled with rows of needle-like teeth.

“That beast was brutally slain…” Raphael deduced that the others must have passed through here already.

“But where did they go?”

As if in answer to his question, a loud, mournful howl came from a passage ahead. It was the unmistakable cry of the Crimson Fang Hound mother.

“They must have gone that way,” Raphael surmised, then started walking down the path. The silver sword in his right hand was dragging along the ground, leaving a faint metallic screech in its wake.

He moved slowly and cautiously.