Bab 18: The feeling of having power(1)

In the clear blue sky above Earth, the view went on for miles.

The air was filled with soft, white clouds that moved slowly across the bright blue.

The sun, shining brightly and golden, made the sky warm and lit up the world below.

As this peaceful scene continued, a sudden noise broke the calm.

Screeeee~~

From behind the moving clouds, a huge and amazing creature appeared, unlike anything anyone could imagine.

Its large wings stretched out wide, shining in the sunlight like they were covered with pieces of shiny metal; the feathers on its head were a deep black, like a black crown. Its big claws were also golden.

With smooth and strong movements, the creature moved gracefully through the sky filled with clouds.

It flew easily, riding the air currents, its shape making a powerful shadow on the ground.

The flapping of its wings sounded like faraway thunder, showing the great strength of this powerful animal.

The flying creature was moving toward a particular city. This city had a wall to protect it from attacks by these creatures.

Ding Ding Ding~~!!!

Warning!! Warning!!

In a military base near the city, the sound of an alarm began to ring.

"Attack warning, I repeat, attack warning!"

"A beast attack!?"

"Commander, according to the radar, it looks like a black-crowned golden eagle, sir!" a soldier reported.

"Oh no! Prepare the cannons!" the commander shouted, telling his troops to get ready for an attack.

"Yes, Commander!"

The big cannons close to the city started to aim at the flying creature.

~Clanngg~~

"All cannons are pointed at the beast leader!!"

"Shoot!" the leader commanded.

|Boom Boom|

All the cannons shot at the beast.

The beast didn't dodge, and the attack hit it.

It let out a loud scream.

"Screeee!!!"

The black-crowned golden eagle wasn't hurt by the attack.

But it got furious and quickly turned in the air.

In its anger, it threw some of its shiny feathers at the cannons.

|Boom Boom|

The cannons were instantly destroyed.

"L-Leader! All cannons are gone; the beast is coming to the city!" A soldier yelled.

"Leader, should we ask for a Star Warrior?"

"Yes, we don't have any other choice." The leader quickly ordered; now only the Star Warriors could deal with the black-crowned golden eagle.

***********

"That jerk! I really want to punch his stupid face."

Leila said angrily.

She and Luke had already left the school and were at the gate.

"You don't need to get angry over people like that."

Luke replied calmly, trying to calm down his sister. "It's not worth it to let someone like him ruin your day."

Leila took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

"You're right," she said, "I won't waste my energy on him anymore."

Even though she was trying to relax, she was still really mad inside. For her, Luke was everything—her true love, the person she trusted more than anyone else.

She couldn't handle anyone treating him badly and would do anything to keep him safe. As they left the gate, Leila couldn't get rid of the angry feeling that stayed with her.

At this moment, about a thousand meters above Houston City.

When the alarms began to sound, the people of Houston City looked up in terror as a huge black-crowned golden eagle dove down from the sky.

A large black-crowned golden eagle was flying over the city. It was about twenty meters long, like a giant fighter jet. Its body feathers had a cold, metallic shine, and its head feathers were a deep black, like a black crown. Its large talons were also golden.

A pair of sharp, blue, glowing eyes gazed down at the human city, hiding a hint of deadly intent.

|BOOM!|

The black-crowned golden eagle, already flying incredibly fast, suddenly sped up even more, breaking the sound barrier in an instant and reaching an astonishing speed.

At the same time, a very high-pitched noise came from the eagle's mouth. A visible shockwave spread quickly downward.

Suddenly—

[AHN]

A loud, piercing howl rang out, but it wasn't like a thunderclap.

Thunder is loud and deafening, but this sound was piercing. Luke felt a slight pain in his ears, and a few frown lines appeared on his forehead. Many people on the street were already covering their ears.

"That's a bird's sound," Luke said while gazing at the sky.

"Brother, look at that!" Leila exclaimed, pointing up.

Luke tilted his head and saw a massive figure in the sky. As soon as his eyes focused on the source of the noise, he felt a shiver go down his back.

The cosmic energy inside him started acting wild and out of control, almost like it was being pushed down by the immense force coming from the creature above.

Luke squeezed his hands into fists, trying to get control back, but the energy kept spinning wildly inside him.

[KAAA!]

Under the shock of the ear-piercing howl, a huge piece of glass in a skyscraper on the neighboring street let out a deep [KA~~~ KA~~~] sound.

Lots of glass cracked open, and dozens of glasses fell from the high sky. Some smashed against the pedestrian path, hit people, or even smashed against the lights on the street.

[PAI!] [PENG!] [PIPA (crackling noises)!] .....

There were bursting noises for a while.

One of the glasses hit a streetlight beside him and broke.

A shard of glass flew straight at Luke, like a sharp knife.

"Hmm?" Luke noticed it from the corner of his eye.

But he didn't move.

He just stood there quietly. In a flash, his right hand, as fast as lightning, caught the flying piece of glass.

The piece of glass reflected his look. He tapped it twice and then randomly threw it. Like a hidden weapon, the piece of glass flew straight towards a faraway trash can and accurately went inside the opening.

'Wow, just being a 1-Star Warrior, I can do this,' he thought with surprise in his eyes.

On the street, the cars that were affected at first quickly went back to normal. And the people on the street were having a discussion. Some unfortunate ones were injured, but most of them had no injuries at all.

"What a terrifying strength." Luke looked toward the sky.

So much power in just one howl. It must've been a powerful beast.

It was the first time for Luke to see a beast with his own eyes, and he couldn't help but feel a mix of fear and awe.

Would he have to fight beasts like this one in the future? Luke wondered. He couldn't help but feel a sense of unease at the thought.

If Luke wanted to grow stronger quickly, he'd need to defeat every beast he met, but the idea of facing a powerful creature like the one he just saw made him very nervous.

This wasn't like the stories he read, where the main character easily fought beasts as if they knew exactly what to do.

He was still an inexperienced kid with nothing but a system in his hand, but he knew he had to push past his fear and doubt if he wanted to survive in this world.