Edit: If Dorian's actions in this chapter confuses you, see the Author's Edit at the bottom.

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WHOOSH

Dorian cut down through the air at a breakneck speed, his body blurring as he moved.

Black Ambian Eaglets, the young form he was currently in, were strong for their age, classed at roughly the Earth Class.

With Dorian's powerful Lord Class soul acting as a backdrop, however, his current physical form was at the peak of the Sky Class, and this wasn't counting the Great Strength Passive Ability he had always on.

As he came towards the hunters, he overheard a brief portion of their discussion. His Black Ambian Eagle form had supernatural hearing, in addition to its powerful eyesight, boosted to very high levels thanks to his Lord Class Soul Spell Matrix.

"..try to hit its shoulders, cut off circula.."

"Haha nice throw! Go fo.."

THWUCK

Dorian landed right atop one of the hunters, his body colliding with a resounding echo.

He grunted as he felt the impact, shrugging it off as he sent the hunter flying.

"Arrgh!"

"Who- whoa! B-beast attack!"

"Swords up!"

"Kill it!"

The trio of other hunters all turned away from the wounded deer in panic. Two of them unstrapped bows, while the third drew a sword and lunged forward towards Dorian.

"Hmph." Dorian couldn't speak in this form, but he could still snort.

He took a deep breath, and a second later, a billowing cloud of emerald green flames washed into the air, just above the hunters.

The dragonfire smoldered, incredible heat and energy blasted off into the sky.

"Oh my god?!"

"A Phoenix?!"

"Nobody move!"

They all froze, including the hunter Dorian had slammed into. Blades and bows fell out of limp wrists as the hunters looked on at him in terror.

Dorian slowly walked forward, a dark mood building around him as he looked at the small deer.

It was panting lightly, blood dripping down its lips. Several long and small wounds covered it, with two particularly large ones on its lower back.

They were playing with it, rather cruelly.

'A Green Deer, an Earth Class beast. It has suffered severe injuries, and its life-force has drained. It is beyond healing.' Ausra's voice echoed in his head.

Dorian frowned, or, rather tried to, once again his eagle form not allowing any real facial expression.

He drooped out one of his wings, touching the deer carefully.

It wheezed and struggled faintly before giving up, going back to its sad panting.

"W-what do we do?" The panicked whispers of one of the hunters caught his ear.

"It, I think it wants the deer?" Another began, before being cut off as Dorian looked up, angrily yelling,

"CAWWWWWWW!" His words didn't make any sense, but his tone was clear, as he looked from the deer, with its grievous injuries, and then back to the hunters, several times.

"I, I think it's mad at us?" Another hunter said, his voice tinged with confusion.

Dorian just glared at them. He then looked upward, letting loose another billow of Emerald Flames.

The hunters cowered, looking terrified.

"Oh great Phoenix, please forgive us. We will never repeat our foolish actions again." Those among the quartet still holding their weapons dropped them and they all stepped backwards, beginning to beat a fast retreat. They yelled out apologies over and over, professing their loyalty as they ran away.

Dorian watched them flee, his feelings mixed. At least the terror he'd inspired should have some impact he hoped.

"Wheeze."

He looked down at the dying deer as it coughed, its body shivering. It trembled one last time, and then lay still, dead.

He sighed. In the end, it was just a deer, and the only thing it could do was struggle before it died. A sad, painful death. His heart went out to it, even if it wasn't particularly intelligent. No creature should have to suffer torture of any kind.

As he was sighing, feeling morose, he caught something, on the very edge of his supernatural, heavily boosted hearing. He only caught it because he'd kept his attention honed in on the hunters, tracking them.

As they fled several hundred meters away, they seemed to grow a bit more confident, feeling as if they'd managed to get away.

"Da-Daryl." One of the hunters spat out as his chest heaved, catching his breath,

"We gotta go back for our stuff. I can't leave my Burwood Bow there, or my Tallendel Sword."

"Yeah, my Ironwood Bow is there, that cost me a pretty penny."

"Yea-"

"Quiet." The apparent leader of the hunters, Daryl spat out, cursing.

"It's just a stupid bird, a strong one. Those flames were something else, it might be a Peak Sky Class, or even Early Master Class. We'll just wait for it to leave." He motioned for his men to settle down, staying low.

Dorian snorted, rolling his eyes. They were certainly quite fearless. A smolder of anger still sizzled in his heart as he looked down at the poor, torn corpse of the deer, and sighed once more.

Everyone deserved a second chance. He firmly believed that.

Animal cruelty was wrong, but he wasn't just going to murder them for harming a deer. He'd killed plenty of deer in his time, though he'd never tortured one.

Just as he was flashing his wings, preparing to take off, he overheard one more portion of the conversation,

"Damn thing acting like a knight-in-shining-armor, for a damned deer." One of the hunters cursed, audibly spitting to the side.

Dorian made out a small string of agreements from the hunters.

"Let's string up a dozen more on the way back for fun, eh, lads? Whoever can bleed one the longest without letting it die gets a pint on me." The leader of the hunters, Daryl said, his voice holding a cruel edge.

Quiet, hushed laughter broke out.

"Shh, shh, keep it down. We'll have our fun once it's gone. Let's give it fifteen minutes before we go check on the gear. Silence for now." Daryl ordered, his voice commanding.

Dorian froze, mid-takeoff.

He slowly lowered his wings, turning his head to face the direction, several hundred meters away, where the men were talking. He couldn't see them from this distance, the dozens of trees between them blocking off his vision.

He stared in their direction, however, his movements calm.

A long moment passed.

'William.' Dorian mentally stated,

'William, what did I do wrong?'

'I gave them a second chance. To go forward, and not torture innocent creatures.' He had no problems with hunting. But torturing innocent creatures for fun?

Especially given that he, himself, was no longer truly a human. It was simply wrong.

His wings started to tremble. His whole body shook for a moment.

'I gave them a second chance, Will.'

'But they aren't taking it.'

All of a sudden, Dorian felt as if he was alone again.

Back in the mental prison inside his head, where he had stayed for years.

Talking to no one but William, trying to figure out life, his goals, his aspirations. What he would do when he left.

'I'm doing the right thing, Will.' Dorian said again, his wings still shaking.

'BUT THEY AREN'T TAKING IT.' His voice thundered in his consciousness, his emotions whiplashing to extremes. For some odd reason, Dorian felt like he was unable to completely control his emotions.

This was the first time, since he'd left his mental prison, that he'd encountered a situation like this. His mind shook briefly.

He had done everything right. But still failed.

Deep down in the recesses of his mind, something inside him, something delicate and worn away by years of constant loneliness, seemed to crack. Some part of his soul seemed to react to this, unbeknownst to Dorian, tiny dark tendrils in his mind very, very slowly starting to spread.

These tendrils of darkness were small, virtually undetectable, and had no physical form. They writhed within his mind, unbeknownst to Dorian, ever so slightly twisting his thoughts. Warping them.

A darkness that was planted in his soul when he first came into existence.

Abruptly, he began to laugh.

A vast, wonderful feeling of relaxation and exhilaration filled Dorian as he laughed out loud, an odd, keening noise when coming from a Black Ambian Eagle.

'I figured it out, Will. There is always a right answer. If this one didn't work, I'll just make my own.' He felt like a heavy load had been lifted from his shoulders.

As he spoke, his mind entered an odd state. He almost felt like he wasn't entirely in control of his body.

Abruptly, he raised one of his wings, feeling the innate, magnetic properties inherent in his metal feathers. He focused his will on this connection, selecting four feathers in particular.

WHOOSH

His Basic Magnetic Manipulation Ability was a powerful one that scaled with the strength of a being's Soul Spell Matrix. For Dorian, who had a Lord Class Soul Spell Matrix, the energy he could output if he went all out was far, far higher than that of a regular Black Ambian Eagle.

With his supernatural hearing and senses to aid him, four gleaming, black feathers shot through the forest. They pierced through half a dozen trees, slicing into and out of them as if they weren't even there.

THWUCK

THUWCK

THUWCK

THUWCK

Four dark metal feathers slammed directly into the heads of each of the four hunters.

Killing them instantly.

'If they won't accept the mercy I give them, then I shall show them a different type of mercy.'

The four hunters collapsed, falling to the ground. A few leaves scattered as they fell, slouching over in death, the faces of the hunters frozen in mirth.

One last, long moment passed.

Dorian stood alone, next to the corpse of the deer, staring off towards the lifeless bodies of the hunters.

He blinked several times, feeling as if he had just woken up, for some odd reason.

'Right, Will? They wouldn't change.' He nodded halfheartedly, looking around the forest.

'Right. I gave them a chance, Will.' He nodded again, this time more assuredly.

He turned and bowed towards the dead hunters.

'Life is precious. Value yours more wisely next time.' He gave one last stiff nod, and then gathered his wings under him, launching himself into the air, deciding to leave all of this behind.

'Come, Will. Let's keep going. We'll reach Blizzaria by nightfall.'

.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

–

Black Ambian Eagle – Growth Stage: (2/4) Young Adult Eagle –

Growth Progress – 412/4,484 –

–

"Hmm." Dorian rubbed his chin as he looked at the required energy values he would need to advance his Black Ambian Eagle form. He'd gained a bit more energy, thanks to some hunting and snacking on a Magic Herb from his Spatial Ring.

He was back in his Ifrit form and feeling better than ever. For the first time in what felt like a while, Dorian felt as if he didn't have a single worry weighing him down. Even his current journey and quest to save Will didn't feel like a chore, but instead a happy experience waiting to happen.

He smiled, unable to help himself.

"I can't combine my Black Ambian Eagle with my other bloodlines till I fully grow it." He muttered, frowning halfheartedly. He rubbed his chin again, thinking over his options.

Night spread out around him; several hours had passed. He was currently standing atop a large tree, looking off into the distance.

About a dozen miles from Dorian, a huge, gaping portal shimmered. The edge of the World Bridge.

The entrance to Blizzaria.

Even from around a dozen miles away from the portal, Dorian could still feel a cold breeze, shuddering through the forested area.

His Ifrit form was Aspected towards Fire and Life. It was incredibly resistant to both.

It also happened, however, that because of that, he was able to handle cold weather reliably. The fiery heat and life energy within him made his body resistant to the icy air.

His body would use up a bit more energy, however, and gaining a form that was naturally adaptive to cold areas was on Dorian's checklist. But it wasn't an urgent need.

He shrugged,

"Whatever. Let's just go, we'll figure it out on the way."

Dorian leapt up into the air, crashing through the sky as he began to run off towards the end of the World Bridge. He called to mind the map he'd memorized, readying himself to enter the complex cave system.

Charging bravely towards a new world.

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