Travellers - An Isekai, Cultivation Fantasy

Two weeks later.

The aura around Drake's body had transformed to a whole other level compared to several months ago. Waves and waves of mana were being released from his body, exerting a physical pressure on the grass, trees, and life around him.

Standing some distance away was a young girl dressed in green robes. She looked human at first glance, except her skin carried creases similar to a tree bark, and she was radiating a grand mage aura. Sylvia had broken through a short while back and now came to observe and support Drake.

At this moment, she observed Drake reach into his storage pouch and, while still in meditation, take out a black and white coloured pill. However, the colours of the pill kept moving as if they were alive.

Before Sylvia could observe further, Drake consumed the pill. Immediately, his aura changed. It became more powerful, yet felt much more controlled.

Sylvia smiled.

…

Another two weeks later.

Blaze was standing next to Sylvia in the same spot. He had now broken through to the undying body realm as well and was watching Drake closely. Standing in front of the two of them was Eclair Emberclaw - Blaze's father and a mage emperor. He had come to protect Drake as well.

Drake's body was releasing dozens of mana waves a second, becoming increasingly powerful with each one.

"He's almost there!" Blaze exclaimed. Sylvia was quiet, but her eyes glistened as she focused intently.

The waves of mana became stronger and more and more frequent. Dark clouds gathered once again, and lightning struck the grass nearby. Large winds gathered and pushed away all the rocks and debris in the vicinity. But soon, the winds changed. They spiralled around Drake, whipping up all the leaves and rocks in the process, making him the centre of a mini hurricane.

However, the winds were not ordinary, but were laced with mana. As soon as it formed, the hurricane began shrinking and condensing, releasing more and more waves of mana in the process. As it did so, all the leaves, dust and debris were also pushed out, revealing just pure, concentrated winds of mana.

The mana winds condensed rapidly and contacted Drake's body.

At that moment, everything stopped. One second later, all the mana in the surrounding air was sucked into Drake's body and… boom!

A giant wave of mana, far more powerful than anything so far, was released from Drake's body. Blaze and Sylvia were pushed back several steps before they regained balance. They looked forward and saw Drake's body glowing as a thin layer of mana formed around him.

This was the indicator of the undying body realm cultivators. Cultivators in this realm had infused their bodies with so much mana that a thin, visible layer would form around their bodies. This would act as a natural defence and could passively heal their wounds. The fact that this appeared around Drake's body meant only one thing.

Drake had broken through!

Blaze and Sylvia heaved a sigh of relief. They believed in Drake's ability, but still, there was always a possibility that something could go wrong in breakthroughs, hence why they had kept such a close eye on him and had brought Eclair too, in case they had to intervene. Seeing that he was okay, they were very happy.

Drake felt the mana in his body subside, and his mind relax. However, it would still take a few days for him to stabilise his cultivation realm. So, Drake didn't lose focus.

"He should be fine now," said Eclair. "It's best to leave him alone until he stabilises his cultivation." Blaze and Sylvia agreed and the three turned to leave as Drake was no longer in danger.

A few days later.

Drake slowly opened his eyes.

Bright light overwhelmed his sight. His eyes took a few seconds to adjust before taking in the sight of green, blue and white. However, Drake focused on his body and raised his hand, gently clenched his palm open and close.

The strength he felt in his muscles and bones was on a completely different realm from what he had before. He recalled the demons he had struggled to fight before, like the arachnes and the naga demon, and felt that he could destroy them with a single punch.

It was incredible!

Not only that, but his senses had increased to a whole new level as well. If he focused, he could pick up on the sounds of the movement of a single ant, over a hundred metres away!

Drake stood up, and his body felt incredibly light.

Shadow steps!

Drake disappeared and reappeared fifty metres away in an instant, almost crashing into a large boulder.

Woaahh! He did not expect that.

That wasn't even his full speed, but it was still on a whole other level than before. Looking at the boulder, which was taller than he was, Drake smirked. Without activating any martial techniques, he simply clenched his fist and punched.

Boom!

The boulder shattered as the force of the punch ripped it out of the ground and sent the pieces flying. At the same time, a small crater formed and stretched several metres in the direction of his punch before levelling off.

Drake gasped. 'This is what I can do without any martial techniques or anything!?'

It was unbelievable. He suddenly had the urge to rampage amidst a horde of demons to test his strength, but then shook his head.

'There will be time for that in the future.' Drake turned and went back to sit in his spot. Taking a deep breath, he calmed his excitement and returned to normal.

One thing he had learnt in the inheritance was that cultivation was not everything. Specifically, he remembered Corvus, who was far more powerful than Drake and almost everyone else, despite being in the same major cultivation realm. He kept wondering why that was, and then had a realisation.

Complementary skills and artifacts.

Until now, Drake just randomly learnt whatever runes, spirits, and artifacts he came across and put them together in a way he thought would be useful. Although powerful in their own right, they did not work together very well.

On the other hand, not only were Corvus' artifacts and martial techniques extremely powerful, but they could also combine and enhance each other's strength, taking it to a whole new level.

That's what Drake lacked.

He needed artifacts that could utilise his martial techniques, summonings, and other abilities, while covering all the areas of battle - offence, defence, speed and healing.

Drake's mind ran through all the new martial techniques he had in his possession the runes he knew of and new ones he had gained, and he tried to figure out how to create artifacts that would complement his martial techniques.

He decided to spend time learning some of the new martial techniques and upgrading his artifacts.

…

Four months later.

Drake was now thirteen years old, but something was happening in Duskville.

Cedric Ironheart was sitting in his office, working through some documents, when he heard a loud banging on the door.

"Come in," he ordered.

A panicked guard barged through the doors, tripping over himself, before apologising and kneeling.

"My lord! My lord! Several paladins of the Church and knights of the Royal family have arrived at our gates, leading fifty cultivators. They want to talk to you!"

Cedric's froze, then sighed.

It's finally time, huh?

…

Drake, Blaze and Sylvia were sitting inside a carriage that was leaving the dragon tribe village. If one looked closely, they could spot that Drake's gloves, boots and amulet were now rank three artifacts. Outside the village, a small crowd had formed, which included Eclair and Amouranth, who were waving Blaze and his party goodbye.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Inside, Drake observed Blaze and Sylvia and couldn't help but smile. Despite using so many pills, they still managed to break through before him. Talent was just too hard to overcome in this world.

As the group began chatting and having fun, they suddenly felt several large auras rapidly approaching them. The horses went crazy, making the driver struggle to bring them under control. He too felt the auras and began shaking with fear.

What the hell are those monsters?

However, he remembered who he was escorting in the carriage and relaxed. Surely they'll be able to take care of it?

Drake, Blaze and Sylvia squinted their eyes.

Commander class demons!

There were rare near Basindale, but the dragon tribe was in a remote location, so they were relatively more common here.

The next instant, the three disappeared and reappeared outside the carriage.

"ROOOAAAARRRR!!!" The earth shook as heavy footsteps galloped towards them.

Drake's gaze peered into the distance and noticed four lions less than a mile away, approaching them at an unbelievable speed.

Although they had the general physique of a lion, everything else about them was completely different. Each lion demon was the size of a bus and had claws as long as human arms. One of them sprouted a foot-long horn from its forehead, while another had spikes growing out of its spine over its back. The third lion was pitch black, and black scales covered its body, and the final lion had a thick mane and muscles so big that it seemed like they could rip through its skin at any moment.

Each one of them radiated the aura of a commander class demon.

Sylvia acted first. She focused on her inner realm and placed her palms together. An incredibly dense amount of mana gathered between her hands. When it reached a critical level, she opened her palms and a ball of yellow light shot out.

"Terravex," she muttered.

The ball exploded. Streams of yellow mana wrapped around Sylvia, collecting underneath her feet and pushing her into the air — three, four, five… eight feet! The dense mana released a sudden burst of light. A second later, the light disappeared, and in its place was a towering giant of rock, wielding a massive spear, with Sylvia standing on its shoulder.

Sylvia raised her hand, "Gaia's grasp." Immediately, the humanoid giant moved, raising its hand as well.

The spiked lion demon was running at full speed when giant hands burst out of the earth, taking it completely by surprise. The lion demon wanted to stop, but it was too late. It crashed full speed into the hands.

Boom!

Rocks, dust and debris flew everywhere as the lion came to a crashing halt.

"Sealbreaker!" yelled Sylvia. Terravex moved, putting one leg in front of the other and leaning back. A huge amount of mana gathered in the spear. The spiked lion demon sensed this and wanted to flee, but the giant hands held it in place. Terravex sprang forth and released the spear, aimed directly at the spiked lion.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

As the spear flew, bursts of mana exploded behind, leaving a trail of craters in its path. Alarm bells rang like never before in the lion demon's mind. It pushed and pulled with all its strength, desperate to escape. But it was useless.

The spear blasted through its body and continued flying on the other side. Where it passed, rocks and boulders shattered under pressure, and nearby trees were uprooted. The spear kept travelling over fifty metres before finally crashing into the ground, resulting in a large explosion.

The remaining three demons just arrived before Drake's party when they noticed the attack and the sudden death of their companion. For a moment, they were taken aback, but their surprise quickly turned into even greater rage, which they directed towards Sylvia.

Drake was surprised, but smiled. He wasn't the only one who made gains in the inheritance.

"My turn," Blaze chuckled. Summoning his mana, he activated his martial technique.

"Supreme ruler: seismic… split!" Blaze bashed his sword into the ground, splitting it apart. The crack quickly extended towards the horned lion demon. But this time, the demons were on full alert, so the horned lion demon quickly retreated. However, the crack extended rapidly, widening as it reached further away from Blaze. In just a second, the crack had extended through the horned lion demon's legs, and well beyond.

The demon looked at the crack and then at Blaze, and giggled, thinking that his attack had failed. However, Blaze smirked in response. He poured mana into his sword, and one of its runes activated.

"Fire… wall!"

The horned demon felt danger unlike anything else and jumped to the side instinctively. However, it was too late. A large wall of fire erupted from the earth and cut through one of its legs before it could dodge.

"RRROOOAAARRR!" the demon screamed in pain, but Blaze had disappeared already. The demon's eyes darted across the plains searching frantically, when it heard a voice from above.

"Supreme ruler: gravity twist!"

Blaze released the hilt of his sword, and it began rotating rapidly before shooting towards the horned lion demon, taking it completely by surprise.

Boom!

The ruler cut through the commander class lion demon like butter and exited through its stomach, then drilled into the ground for ten metres before finally coming to a stop. Blood and internal organs spilt out of the demon as it fell lifelessly. At the same time, Blaze landed cleanly on his spot again, grabbing the ruler as it returned to his hand just in time.

Seeing another one of them be killed so quickly, the scaled and maned lion demons were furious. They roared and charged at the trio.

"Aaahhh… you guys don't learn, do you?" Drake sighed. He poured mana into his left glove. Lightning engulfed his glove, quickly travelling up his forearm, buzzing wildly and striking the air around his arm. Drake raised his hand and aimed it at the approaching demon.

"Lightning…" Dark clouds gathered as mana intensified around him, "… judgement!"

Boom!

A bolt of lightning shot out in the blink of an eye. Wherever it passed, the ground turned black. The scaled lion saw a burst of light before unimaginable pain overwhelmed its senses.

"RRROOOOAAAARRRRR!!!!" cried the demon as the giant bolt of lightning easily penetrated its scales and pierced into its body. A second later, lightning burst out of every hole in its body, buzzing wildly and striking the ground around it. The demon fell on its back and started rolling around madly, but it was of no use. Lightning burned its organs and was destroying its body from the inside. Within a few seconds, this scaled lion demon was also dead.

Seeing this, the maned lion demon came to a stop. It eyed its fallen companions and then Drake, Blaze and Sylvia. Its face paled as the difference in their strength finally dawned on it.

It turned tail and ran.

"Tst, where do you think you're going?" Drake muttered, pouring mana into his boots. One of the runes began to glow a faint white, and Drake's aura completely disappeared. He then activated one of his new martial techniques

"Storm drift."

Instantly, he disappeared into sparks. The demon glanced back and was confused. Not only was Drake nowhere to be seen, but it could not detect a hint of his presence!

Suddenly, alarm bells rang through its head. It looked up to see Drake floating above its head.

Drake poured mana into his gloves, and a rune in each of them activated. The gloves quickly grew heavier and heavier, until they each reached about half a ton in weight.

The inspiration for this rune was seeing Farisa's hammer expand in size and weight for her mountain splitter move. By studying some of the new summonings and runes he had obtained in the inheritance, and a bit of creativity, he had designed his own version of it.

"Mighty warlord's… execution!" Drake activated his martial technique and began pounding the lion. The first punch pushed it to the ground, its ribs breaking on impact, and the second punch cracked its skull. The demon was dead, but Drake continued anyway.

"Aaahhhhhhh!!!!" he screamed as he pummelled the ground over and over and over. The earth cracked while each punch pushed the demon's body further and further into the ground, turning it into a crater.

The demon's body turned into a bloody pulp, and Drake finally stopped, landing on his feet. He had formed a crater the size of the demon's body, several metres deep. Drake clenched his palm, sensing the mana within.

This was the first time he had fought since advancing to the undying body realm. Although he hadn't exerted his full strength yet, he was still able to gauge how much he had grown. Regular grand mages or undying body martial artists would not be able to defeat commander class demons so easily. The fact that they could was testament to the fact that they were no ordinary cultivators.

'Not bad…' he thought to himself.

Together, he, Blaze and Sylvia were now a formidable force. Hence, Drake wouldn't have to worry about being targeted by anyone.

However… Drake thought about Basindale again. Based on the information from the dark mages he interrogated, the Hidden Venom Cult was quite active in Basindale. That meant there were a lot of dark mages around, including, potentially, Theo and the dark grand mage who gave them so much trouble. If they and the Hidden Venom Cult wanted to target him, that would be problematic.

Unless they were attacked by someone at the mage king level, or a swarm of grand mage cultivators, the three of them would not be in serious trouble. Such an attack would be rare.

The memory of Theo and the dark mages tailing and ambushing them during one of their missions flashed through his mind.

'I cannot rule out the possibility of them trying such a thing again,' Drake reminded himself. Not only the Hidden Venom Cult, but any other force jealous and desperate enough to try and take the inheritance from him, could try a similar thing.

Drake looked at the sky and clenched his fist, remembering Theo.

"They can try if they want, let us finally settle our scores, Theo."

…

In the space outside the gates of Duskville, two groups stood facing each other.

On one side, standing closer to Duskville, were Cedric Ironheart, Elena Silverglow, and Darren Gold. Standing opposite were fifty cultivators - a mix of undying body martial artists and grand mages. At the helm were six shadow body martial artists and four mage kings, and standing in front of them, leading everyone, were three mage emperors and three astral body martial artists!

Some distance away, a group of four stood observing everyone - a young man wearing an eye patch, another young man wielding a spear whose face was half-decayed, an old woman wearing black robes, and an old man wearing black robes as well. Naturally, this was Henry, Jin Tong, Dalia Krueger, and her father.

Dalia chuckled. "This is becoming even better than our original plan!"

"Indeed, I did not expect the Church and the Royal family to muster and send this large a force on such short notice, to a location so far away from the Capital," the man agreed. "However, the more there are, the better for us."

"Indeed," Dalia agreed with a delightful tone. "Are they on their way?"

The man didn't reply, but instead turned to look in the northern direction.

Far, far to the north, hundreds of thousands of miles away, ginormous mountains pierced the clouds and rose into the skies.

This was the land of the giants.

Thunder rumbled and lightning struck, briefly lighting up the land. In that brief instant, a group of several thousand cultivators were revealed - grand mages, mage kings, even mage emperors!

Their direction… the Holy Kingdom!

As if the man could see all of this, he turned to Dalia and replied.

"Yes. They are on their way."