Rise Of The Dragon Emperor-Chapter 86 Time-Skip (3)
After staying for 1 full year , Ronan recieved a S rated axe skill called the ‘ Thunder Axe Strike ‘.
Blending the powers of thunder with the attacking power of a Axe , it was a skill that supercharged the power of the axe by infusing thunder damage in its attacks.
Meant for thunder elemental users only , it was a skill that burnt elemental essence alongside physical stamina to consistently mentain the coating of thunder around the axe .
However , overall it was an excellent and versatile skill that gave Ronan both short and long range attacks capabilities while wielding the axe as under normal fighting circumstances Ronan’s axe would only be covered in a thin coating of thunder inflicting lightning damage alongwith every cut that he made , but should he chose to send out a long range attack , he could produce a devastating thunder slash using the axe too .
However to stay 3 more months Ronan had to pay the toll and this time he was forced to give up the sense of dignity and pride by vishvakarma.
Covered in disgusting poop and tar , Ronan was not allowed to bathe or clean himself as he was stripped off his clothes and forced to live naked within the cave.
This was a whole new level of derogation for the second prince of Avalon as being constantly covered in poop even though he could not smell it felt extremely repulsive and shattered the little pride that he had left for himself.
His intimate parts exposed to the elements he could do nothing as the others who stayed inside the cave saw him naked during eating hours.
There were only 2 more students left inside the cave along with him as the others had chosen to leave at some point..
The others too had several penalties by this point and had started to sink into madness . Ronan who saw them every day was able to analyse the change in their behavioural patterns and could see them turning into monsters with his own eyes.
On day 1 when he came , the others still ate their food like civilised humans , cutting the bread and drinking the water to swallow the food. However over the months they started to eat like barbarians and animals , as now they would wet the bread inside the water before licking it off the plate like dogs.
This behaviour scared Ronan as while he could see the others through a third person perspective , he could not see himself in the same way.
Already losing his dreams , his taste , his ability to communicate , his smell and finally his dignity , Ronan was also starting to change day after day however he could not even begin to analyse how.
His mind that was once creative did not dare put any creative ideas inside him anymore as Ronan had truly forgotten about how colorful the outside world really was.
At times he wondered if the outside world was even real or was it an illusion that his mind had created .
The cave of penance was definitely messing him up and Ronan did not even realize how. But despite all the negatives of being inside the cave , the positive was that Ronan was becoming as hard as steel.
His body was being trained rough as it was the only thing he could do inside the cave and his muscle memory had became perfected.
Every single move in his arsenal was memorized by his muscles as a single thought inside his brain and he could instacast any spells that he knew and perform any martial arts that he needed to.
Willingly accepting the torture Ronan’s mind was being tempered the most as although Ronan did not realise it himself , his mind slowly became resistant to mind control and illusions due to his time spent inside the cave.
Ronan’s will saw the biggest change of them all , as his will became tempered the most inside the cave of penance as staying every single day was a struggle , knowing that he could end the suffering and leave anytime that he chose to.
However for the purpose of revenge , Ronan endured , as he would rather be humiliated and crushed than to ever feel powerless to save someone he cared for again.
This was until month 14 of the stay inside the cave of penance , as it was on that day that he met ” Zack Prime “.
A newbie and a new entrant to the cave of penance Zack saw Ronan training in the open grounds as he saw Ronan perform his Flaming Lightning Wheel .
Clapping from distance Zack appreciated Ronan’s marvelous move as he came over to introduce himself ” Hey , I’m Zack Prime , A 9 star prodigy and a thunder and fire dual elemental user … but only the blue thunder , not the golden one like you “.
Ronan could no longer communicate with people as he had long sacrificed that skill , but he threw a glance at Zack and gave him a emotionlessly look before continuing with his training.
Zack however did not take the offense at all as he said ” That move you did. It was really cool , can you teach it to me? “.
Ronan snickered in his mind as he himself knew that the flaming lightning wheel was a move of immense difficulty and not everyone could learn it.
Although the kid claimed to be a 9 star prodigy , Ronan did not believe his claims and coldly continued to work on his training without sparing the boy a second glance.
Looking annoyed Zack said ” Oye , Oye , the arrogant kind are we? Thinking that we are too good for this world?
well you think i can’t Learn that move myself? I’ve seen it once and it will not take me more than 10 minutes to figure it out . Just you wait and see , I’m a 9 star talent , the supreme in this continent “.
Ronan’s impression of Zack instantly plummeted as he thought of him as a clown. Even Ronan needed a lot of effort to learn that move and it was after day and night of relentless practice that he was able to comprehend it’s profoundness.
The balance between fire and thunder was especially hard , and without doing it a hundered thousand times one could simply not understand the intricate balance required.
Hence to Ronan , Zacks claim was akin to pigs being able to fly and he had no doubt in his mind Zack would fail.
However reality proved to be otherwise , as after fiddling a little for a few minutes , Zack did manage to produce a weak version of the flaming lightning wheel as Ronan watched on exasperated.
” Hahahaha , im getting the hang of it … “. Zack said as he looked at Ronan with teasing eyes .
Ronan gulped nervously , but no matter how much he wanted it to be fake Ronan saw Zack produce a perfect replica of the flaming lightning wheel as he mastered it within 10 minutes time!
” Hahaha , what a fun move … not very hard but still enough to freshen me up.
Not bad for you naked boy , your small pee-pee and your thunder skills are enough to land you a job as my grape peeler . Please grow a lot in this cave , and teach me any new techniques that you have “. Zack said with a superiority tone as he grabbed Ronan by the balls before walking right past him.
At this moment Ronan truly felt the world spin around him , as meeting Zack completely destroyed the last strand of dignity and vain pride that Ronan had in his mind.
Since childhood he was hailed as a genius , a talent like no other and was always viewed by enviously by others for his natural comprehension abilities.
Yet today for the first time ever , Ronan faced someone whose genius was wayy beyond his own as the move he was able to barely master after practicing day and night for months , was mastered by him in just over 8 minutes.
Identity crisis hit Ronan hard as he questioned if he was a genius at all , as compared to Zack he was only as good as becoming his grape peeler.
Feeling a stinging pain in his balls , Ronan lost power in his feet as he landed knee first on the ground below with a defeated look on his face.
The scene of Zack talking down on him with a superior tone and the fact that he mastered Ronan’s best move in under 8 minutes kept haunting his mind as he felt difficulty breathing.
‘ Grape peeler ….. ‘ Ronan muttered in his mind as he felt his pride as the second prince of Avalon stained permanently.
‘ Am- Am i even a real 9 star talent ? ‘ questioned Ronan as compared to Zack he was plain dog-shit.
Little did he know that Zack was none other than the god vishvakarma himself who had taken the form of the human boy to increase the difficulty of Ronan’s challenge.
Since Ronan had given up the sense of dignity and pride , Zack was vishvakarma’s way of robbing him completely of it.
But with those facts remaining unknown , Ronan truly faced identity crisis inside the cave of penance.𝑓𝙧𝙚𝙚w𝙚𝙗𝒏oν𝐞l. c𝑜𝙢