Chapter 5: Hikui Bird
Bora from the Karinga was just a small episode in Lux's vacation around the Earth.
On his journey, he met a lot of people, both young and old, shared laughter with them, helped solve their problems, freed villages from the tyranny of monsters, evil organisations and so on.
...
"Unknowingly it has already been a year since I started my journey," Lux muttered as he flew over a forest toward a barren island with a volcanic mountain in the middle.
As he got closer, Lux could see the smoke billowing out of the tallest peak.
"That must be Mount Kiwi, the habitat of the Hikui bird." Lux recalled the legends he had heard about the Hikui bird, like, some claimed that the Hikui bird eats flames or the 'fan' made from their feathers could extinguish any fire, and there were also some other outrageous claims, like, they are born from fire and can live on forever.
So many legends associated with a single bird intrigued Lux very much. So, here he was, searching for the bird and confirming for himself, whether the legends about them were true or not.
He narrowed his eyes, looking at top of the mountain and–
Boom!
–he picked up the speed and streaked across the sky like a jet, but stopped just before a deep crater.
It was because he noticed a few bird-like creatures inside the crater.
The creatures had a flat, oval body covered in purple feathers and a long neck with a white ruff at the base. It looked more like a purple version of ostrich, except for the duck-like yellow beak and the long, thin bony structure attached to the middle of their forehead.
They were resting around the faults which were spewing out ash and lava but the birds seemed to like the heat.
'Rumours about them eating flames may be true,' Lux concluded. The whole mountain range barely had any vegetation for them to feed. There were not even other creatures, except for, maybe a few species of worms and insects. Looking at their huge body, it was obvious that they couldn't sustain themselves just by eating worms, or insects. And, the way they were resting near such a hot place pretty much confirmed the fact they eat flames.
Suddenly, one particular bird, a tad smaller than the others, woke up and screeched as if its life was in danger.
Lux first thought that the little bird had somehow detected his presence and was warning its mates, but, the loud rumble that came from the base of the mountain proved him wrong.
"Uh oh, it's too late," Lux muttered as he realised that the volcano was about to erupt.
"But, you guys are lucky that I am here," Lux chuckled but his voice was ignored by the Hikui birds. They were panicked and flapping their small wings to escape from the volcanic mountain before it erupts, but, unfortunately, they were too slow in their flight, as in the next second, the lava erupted from the top of the mountain, shooting up huge, burning rocks into the sky, along with a large amount of ash and gases, blanketing the whole Island.
The once blue ocean surrounding the Island had turned into black, bubbling water with lots of dead aquatic creatures floating around.
And, the little vegetation that was present on the edge of the Island had been sooted black.
"Annoying." An irritated voice, unobstructed by the sound of the explosion, reverberated throughout the Island. Seconds later, a bright yellow light flashed at the centre, just above the mouth of the volcano, where Lux was before the volcano erupted. A rippling shockwave that seemed to distort the very space gradually expanded radially from the source of the yellow light. The ripple stopped after it covered the whole Island and it seemed that nothing had changed, but, if someone observed from the outside, they would see a mysterious phenomenon.
When the rippling wave spread radially distorting the space, the ash, the toxic gases and debris that was floating in the air gradually faded from existence revealing a charred mountain range cluttered with rocks moving downhill on the flowing lava, layering mountains with a new layer of igneous rocks.
And, Lux and the Hikui birds who had also disappeared with the debris, slowly appeared above the mountain, each had a green, spherical shield encircling them.
Lux had used his self-created 'Mirror World' technique to transport the flying debris to a separate pocket space.
With a wave of his hand, Lux cancelled the shield that was encircling him and the birds.
The birds didn't fly away, instead hovered around Lux as if they were thanking him for saving their lives.
One of the fifteen Hikui birds, who was larger and older than the rest, flew to Lux and chirped at him.
'They seem to be pretty intelligent,' Lux smiled at the show of affection and patted its fluffy head.
"Do you guys have any place to live?" Lux asked and, surprisingly, the old bird looked down at the charred mountain below.
Thinking about the predicament of the birds, Lux had an idea.
He pointed his finger at the cluttered rocks and shot an energy beam. The energy beam cut the rocks precisely into square tiles and, then Lux manipulated those tiles to build a squared platform. After the platform was built, he again sent an energy beam that reinforced the joints between the tiles. He then carved a boulder into a large goblet and placed it in the middle of the platform. He then took out a metallic sphere from the pocket of the lab coat he was wearing and placed the spherical ball inside the goblet. A few seconds later, the metal ball lit up with crimson fire, spreading across the whole concave surface of the goblet, making it appear like a bonfire.
"You guys can stay there. The goblet will produce constant flames for hundreds of years, and if there is another eruption or something the platform will form a shield around it," Lux said to the Hikui birds who were chirping happily, especially the little ones who had already landed on the platform.
But Lux suddenly stopped and looked at West sky, toward the lookout. Distance and obstacles had little meaning to him as he could observe any corner of the earth with just a thought, using one of his self-created techniques.
"Long, purple hairs, muscular build, and the blue combat uniform. He seems familiar," He muttered, thinking of someone.
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Mike_Lu
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