Wudang: Legends Of Qi Earth 143 Orcon Forest VII : The Power Of Black Ash

Calling on the power of Black Ash for the first time was not as impactful as Alex thought it would be. Apart from a little drain of spirit energy, this was just as easy as breathing for Alex, after all this was a power that belonged to him and him alone, it was a part of him, and he unleashed it with extreme prejudice.

And just in time too as Louis spell ran it's course and fizzled out, shattering into multiple pieces of light like shard that quickly vanished into thin air. And as for the beasts?; The moment they noticed the barrier had disappeared it was as if Christmas had come early for each and every single one of them.

*Rooooooaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrr!!*

It left his ears ringing a bit, but Alex ignored that. None of them knew he was awake yet, and as the beasts surged towards them, ready to end the lives of this groups of young people unwilling to back down, Alex jumped to his feet and clapped his hands together, hard.

*CLAP!* The sound spread across the entire forest in the form of a greyish black shockwave that spread from Alex as it's epicenter. The appearance of the shockwave gave the Beasts pause, especially when said shockwave suddenly became swirling clouds of grey Ash that surrounded their preys, guess they were smarter than they looked.

Khan showed up besides Alex, just as Anya, Louis and Xiao Mei turned to look at him. His clothes were ruined, with only his trousers barely hanging on to his body in thin very ripped strips, but enough to cover whatever shred of modesty he had left. His black hair had turned a fiery orange as was usual whenever he used the fire mask, but this time there were strands of grey and red hanging within his locks. And his blazing orange eyes, as could be seen from the eyeholes on his mask, had gained a reddish black band around the Iris.

The grey cloud was chaotic in the way it surrounded them, it was no different from being in the eye of a storm as the world went to hell around you. It kept the unsure monsters at bay, and kept the people within safe from assault, at the very least it gave Louis, Anya, and Xiao Mei enough time to recover the energy they had expended in order to defend him. Alex knew they could have just chosen to run instead, but they stayed back to protect him, after the commotion he was sure his absorption of the Black Ash Salamander's spirit would have caused; Alex didn't doubt that they must have had a really hard time before he woke up.

But even if they were safe, Alex knew that this power was not made for defense or holding monsters at bay. The fact that he was beginning to fill an itch to use it properly was already sign enough that for anything less than killing, this power that seems to have a mind of it's own would turn on it's own master. The grey cloud rumbled and then surged forwards, turning reddish black immediately as it's intent to harm was now exposed.

Alex felt let a snake like pillar of black ash rush through the ranks of waiting monsters, giving it a solid enough form to smack and throw them every which way. There was barely enough damage or impact from using it in such a brute manner, but it still fulfilled it's purpose as all of the monsters that the black Ash had touched, began to have reddish black veins stretching rapidly all over their body. And every centimeter it covered was filled with agonizing pain as the poison began to burn them from the Inside out, regardless of how powerful a cultivation any of them had.

Those who had not been injured by the black Ash were given pause, some quickly took their heels, while others, much stronger than their peers felt that it was possible to withstand the onslaught of black Ash and get to the prize hidden within it's folds. But Black Ash did not discriminate, not against species, not against race and in this scenario definitely not against power. Alex was going to kill them all, and leave this part of the forest a blackened area of death and horror as a reminder to the beasts (not that they needed it, they were just beasts after all) that messing with a man's family was a sure-fire way to die.

The Black Ash reared back, stretching upward to make a dome of blackish red over Alex and the others. Alex had his hands raised up, and his eyes glowing a sinister red and black, and then he dropped his hands, stretching them outwards as the Black Ash surged outwards like the waves of a tsunami, swallowing hundreds of beasts at a time, both those still alive, and the hundreds Anya, Louis and Xiao Mei had killed when Alex was unconscious.

None were spared from the power of Black Ash, and even though they tried running away or digging into the ground, or even taking to the skies in an attempt to escape, it still caught up to them, rapidly and swiftly. This power was guided by rage, and an arrogant disdain for the life that it was now taking, these beasts were unworthy, and get they sought the flesh of his family. Just as well then that they all died a death as painful as can be, and by his hands.

Ten minutes was how long the floor of Black Ash spread and wreaked havoc around the four of them, and in that moment Alex was completely silent and seemingly oblivious to the world around him. And then the Black Ash began to recede, rushing straight back into Alex's body like chickens coming home to roost. The Black Ash poured into him from every direction and through every possible access they could find. His ears, eyes, skin, nose and mouth, creating a rather horrific and scary sight, until there was no more Black Ash to absorb. The mask slowly faded into Alex's skin as his clear black eyes were revealed to the world once again.

Anya didn't hesitate to wrap her hands around his neck and place her forehead on his. Xiao Mei quickly followed behind as she hugged her brother and friend, And Khan unwilling to be left out rubbed his head against Alex's legs whilst Louis was left aside looking pretty awkward, and very surprised at two things. He turned to look around him, his eyes widened in shock at the fossilized bodies of beasts spread out across a radius of two hundred meters! Even the trees were not spared.

"My God!" it was death the likes of which Louis had never seen before, and if he said it didn't scare him then he would be lying. However, he also couldn't help but admire such power, which more than shows why that old man acted in such a greedy manner, he recognized exactly what sort of power that was.

"You don't have to overreact Louis, I for one think this part of the forest looks really beautiful now, it's like sculptures of black and red in the middle of a forest of purples and greens. It's beautiful art!"

Everyone of them turned to look at Anya with a raised eyebrow, of all the people who could and should have an appreciation for art of any sort, she was the least person you would expect. And even so, she was brash and brute that only she would see art in this scale of death and destruction, truly Anya was one of her kind.

"Well art aside, am I the only one that noticed Young Master Alex has gotten taller, like really tall seeing as he's now five foot eight! How the hell did that happen!"

Alex used to be short, like really short. Not a dwarf per se, but extremely short for his age. And now he was just the right height, if not a little bit taller for a fifteen year old. Obviously the onslaught of energy had improved his physique to a whole new level, he didn't know it yet, but he was stronger, faster, smarter, and much more perceptive. And this was because of the Origin physique. I legends there barely an stories about the gods in their childhood years, and that's because gods aren't children for anything more than 5 to 8 years, before their bodies fully grow into what it's meant to be.

Alex was a descendant of multiple gods, and even if it has taken a serious amount of time and the bloodline has become extremely diluted, it was concentrated enough in Alex, that it could now bring out to a certain degree, the same effects of growth the gods enjoyed thousands of years ago. Alex looked at his tall frame and couldn't help but ask.

"Is this a bad thing?"

"Not at all little brother, at least now I can stop calling you squirt to your face and midget in my head. Isn't that awesome?" Xiao Mei said with a grin as she hugged her brother again, this time a little more deeply as she had been really scared she almost lost him.

"I don't mean to interrupt your sibling moment but...…what the fuck are we supposed to do about the greedy academy official?" Louis asked in annoyance as Alex turned to him and asked.

"What greedy academy official?"

Chapter end