The Blackwater Swamp's lair, the Stalagmite Hall.
A pair of eerie green eyes peered out.
Following the example of Lucius's inspiration, Famu brought the Headscar to the cave as well. During the process of absorbing the Bronze Bone, Earth Vein Energy would overflow, and the Headscar might receive inspiration from the power of the Bronze Bone.
The Nightmare Leopard was well-adapted to the dark environment and was curious about everything around him, such as the Sloughs and the corner of the hall that Famu used to dispose of his feces. Headscar looked like he wanted to try it out.
Famu could only shove the curious creature aside and warn it to stay put with a growl.
He was looking forward to this absorption, a long period of slumber, and didn't want the kitten to disturb him out of curiosity.
Headscar sat obediently in the corner. Only then did Famu sit up, his stomach churning as he pushed the Bronze Bone into the digestive tract. At the same time, the Pollution deposits absorbed this time surged up from his body. The Earth Vein Energy was very abundant, and there were even residual energy from the Seran he had devoured last time.
Bronze Bones, Seran, Pollution —all three exerted their power simultaneously, causing Famu's Furnace Core to pulsate, the vibration frequency continuously increasing.
Now Headscar was truly too afraid to move. The deep rumble filled every corner of the cave, and it felt as if the sound could even kill it.
Famu slept.
In his dream, he saw the light again.
An era even older Muerjia lineage.
Meltwater from the Akalai Mountains forms the source of the Mara River.
At that time, the earth was still young, and the veins of the earth were spread underground like blood vessels. Many of the bloodlines of lords who would later become famous in the world had not yet been born.
The first Bronze Lord was born at the source of the Mara River. She delved into the earth, swallowed its veins, and extracted the Dark Green Essence that had been nurtured for millennia deep within the earth—a bronze ore.
The Furnace Core indiscriminately absorbs the nutrients from the earth, bronze and the earth's veins melting together to forge a new skeleton, and the scales are coated with a thick, coppery luster. Thus, the Bronze Bloodline of the Mara River is born, and those who come after inherit her bloodline, and her name, that name that reigns supreme over the rainforest—
Lord of Bronze.
The rib that Famu obtained came from a Lord of Bronze, an ancient ruler from the flames of war more than four thousand years ago.
The war between ancient lords and the Dead Sun Armor, a time of blood and fire.
Famu could see were the most profound memories of the owner of this rib during his lifetime. Besides witnessing the birth of the Bronze Bloodline, Famu also saw the war before him.
The torrential rain tore through the sky, and the earth trembled as the Lord of Bronze marched forth. His bronze-colored serpentine body, carrying the waters of the Mara River, arrived at the triangular area where the Mara River flows into the Samei River.
There, the Lord of Bronze will face off against another king.
One of the kings of the Dead Sun Armor, "Dayseeker" Akhmons.
Akhmons Dayseeker Chaser, a tyrant clad in the heavy armor of the Sun of Death, conquered eighteen kings of the Dead Sun Armor, sank the corpses of the defeated who refused to submit into the sacred fire, and lit the dissected Furnace Core of the Day of Death as his torch for his campaigns. Legend has it that he spent his life seeking the revelations of the Red God Nia, conquering kings, trampling order, spreading the flames of death, and blessing his newborn offspring amidst the flames. He committed countless evil deeds, all to please the Red God.
He crossed the border between Typhon and the Dead Sun Armor, conquering river after river. Typhon's Muerjia had no right to surrender to the Dayseeker. Akhmons skinned the slain Typhon lord with snakeskin to use as a banner, seeing it as Red God Nia, mocking Lundetil, the Green God.
The Lord of Bronze also viewed Akhmons's actions as a usurpation of Lundetil.
They fought at the confluence of the two rivers.
That was a war that even the gods had to hold their breath in awe of, a catastrophe.
The scene, resembling the end of the world, could be seen from the opposite bank of the Samei River.
For nineteen days and nights, the sun rose and the moon set, and day and night lost their color.
The two super Furnace Cores, the Day of Death and the Child of the Earth, roared alternately within the chests of the Dayseeker and the Lord of Bronze.
The Day of Akhmons' Death erupted in flames, the surging river evaporating beneath Day of Death. The mist blotted out the sun, submerging the riverbanks, and the dense forests became scorching, rolling steamers. The Bronze Lord wielded the power of the Child of the Earth, striking the earth and raising the riverbed. Power was released in the rhythm, and bronze peaks rose one after another from the water, tearing apart into thousands of towering cliffs.
Nineteen days and nights later, the confluence of the two rivers was completely transformed.
Bronze scales peeled off like rain, blood flowed into the valley, dark red heavy armor shattered into dust, and embers turned the silt into scorched earth.
Their bodies were riddled with holes, and the catastrophe only ended when the Furnace Core stopped roaring.
The dawn on the twentieth day dispelled the mist and illuminated the riverbank.
Dayseeker the Akhmons sank to the bottom of the water; the Lord of Bronze had won. The Lord of Bronze climbed up, her muscles still repairing themselves, severed nerves reconnecting, and a loud rumbling sound emanating from deep within her bones—shattered bones coming back together. This body stubbornly repaired itself, attempting to regain its vitality.
But she was long dead, her Furnace Core extinguished, her life returned to the earth. With her last will, the bronze Typhon climbed ashore, his charred throat roaring at the rising sun, proclaiming that Lundetil had successfully brought judgment upon the disrespectful Akhmons.
It wasn't until seven days later that any living being dared to enter this battlefield, stepping on the still-hot stones to examine the dead lord.
The Shadow Priests of the Mara River took away the remains of the Lord of Bronze and sacrificed the body of Akhmons to the earth. After Akhmons' defeat, the Dead Sun Armor who followed him had no time to escape and were all executed in Mesopotamia. Their bodies and the Furnace Core were devoured by the descendants of the Bronze Bloodline.
As the floodwaters came, the Typhons swam through the Mara River system, heading to the Bronze Lord's territory to pay homage to her and bless her descendants.
I don't know how much time passed after that.
Until later generations rediscovered this memory.
"Buzz--!"
The Child of the Earth trembled.
In the darkness, Headscar opened his eyes and found a bronze-colored rock blade standing in front of him. Its fur stood on end, and if the blade were just a little longer, it could slice open its throat.
Headscar cautiously moved its body away from the sharp rock ridge. The ground beneath its feet trembled slightly. The Furnace Core Son of the Child of the Earth was releasing a series of low rumbling sounds with a strange rhythm. Headscar stopped for a moment. Listening to the rhythm, it felt that the vibrations were intermittent and that there was no longer any danger from the Bronze Rock Ridge.
Famu awoke, stretched his body, and the entire cave resounded with his movements.
In his slumber, his Furnace Core with that of the Lord of Bronze, creating the Bronze Rock Ridge. In this state of resonance, it was as if the entire earth was under Famu's control.
After waking up, Famu tried to familiarize himself with and master this control over rhythm and vibration, but he could no longer find that feeling.