Humanity: Evolve

[The New World - Pangaea]

Alan trudged along the dark forest path, combat knife at the ready. He crouched low, like a crouching tiger stalking prey.

He turned slightly, signalling to his companions.

'We're close to base fellas, only a short distance now.'

The other four in his squad nodded, before crouching down low again, wary of being attacked.

'F.u.c.k, I shoulda gotten that haircut when I was offered it.' Alan thought, brushing away his long locks of what used to be blonde hair. It was now a dirty grey, slightly damp from the swamps which he and his squad had to wade through moments before.

He gently ran his fingers across the knife's edge, feeling it's sharpness. Although it was an artefact, it felt no different from any other weapon he'd touched before. Of course, that was only because it was in a dormant state.

Suddenly, the sound of an animal's frenzied squealing came from the ahead of the group, over the roaring of rain on the dense canopy.

Alan's heartbeat quickened instantly as he raised his arm in the air, gesturing to his squad mates to advance quickly. He subtly looked around, noticing the tense looks on everyone's faces. He made eye contact with Ryan.

'Fan out' He mouthed, before ducking under a low hanging branch.

Ryan nodded in response, spreading the message to everyone else.

Alan gently fingered his soul stone with his left hand, swiftly coaxing a strand of spiritual essence into it. It glowed a sea blue, before ejecting a small creature out from within.

The small insect was wasp-like, toting a bulky stinger that dripped with paralytic venom and several rows of vicious barbs. It's compound eyes glinted in the darkness.

'Wasp, scout forward and locate the source of the commotion.' He commanded, voluntarily evoking a malicious emotion and sending it through their spiritual link.

He felt the summoned beast's affirmation in the back of his mind as it zipped away through the undergrowth. Alan saw his comrades summoning their own spirit beasts through his peripheral vision, a motley collection of various insects, from beetles to dragonflies, all airborne and with the intent to kill.

Alan calmed himself through his breathing, before once again drawing spiritual essence from the spirit stone itself and into his combat artefact. The blade of the knife shone, the same colour as his spirit stone, before displaying primitive runic patterns from the hilt to the tip of the weapon.

The combat artefact brimmed with a sort of sharp feeling, as if merely looking at the blade would cut you. Alan's mouth curled up slightly as he embraced his spirit beast's bloodthirsty emotions.

He felt the beast's emotions clearly as he focused, an initial wariness, followed by a condescending arrogance.

That was good.

As long as the wasp wasn't afraid, chances were that Alan and his squad could take the wild spirit beast down easily.

Alan's mates surrounded the small clearing, remaining in the shadows.

'A boar, probably in its adolescent stage judging by its size. As long as we stay away from those long tusks, we should be fine.'

'Wasp, sting it.' He commanded, feeling a wave of blood thirst from the insect in response.

The wasp shot out from beneath a large leaf, it's bright yellow and black danger stripes flashing. The boar, which had noticed the group some time ago yet had not fled squealed and shook, causing water to splash off it's mane.

Alan's spirit beast swiftly and quickly engaged the boar, its large stinger impaling it. The wasp itself was not like those of old, back on the old planet. It was a giant, with a wingspan of a couple metres. It's stinger was proportional to that size, penetrating through the boar's thick hide like a hot knife through butter.

Alan felt a sadistic glee from his spirit beast as it clung on to the boar with each of it's huge barb tipped legs, repeatedly stabbing the boar.

'Come back, we don't want to completely ruin it's pelt now. I'm sure it'll fetch quite a few water stones.' He said, restraining the wasp.

He felt its reluctance, but insisted on it sparing the boar. The wasp could do nothing but heed it's master's command as it pulled its stinger out from the wounded boar's body and flew back into the undergrowth.

Alan and the squad quickly came out from the bushes they hid in, numb to the cold feeling and mud on their shins.

'We over reacted a bit didn't we?' Ryan said with a grin.

Alan glanced at his friend's massive dragonfly.

'No shit.'

'Well, who's up for cutting duty?' A hoarse feminine voice asked.

As if on queue, everyone looked at Alan.

'Well, I activated my artefact anyway. Might as well.' He grumbled in response, making his way over to the dying boar.

Ryan looked at Alan's soaked back, before turning to Amanda.

'A new bunch of pioneers are coming in next week, right?'

'Yeah.' She replied, hoarsely.

Ryan looked up at the cloudy sky, ignoring the rain.

'It's been ages since we made the warp. I wonder how long it'll take for us to get back to modern civilisation.' He mused with a hint of reminiscence.

Amanda chuckled, 'We can't go back, you know that. The warp's a one way trip-'

'I know that. I meant how long is it gonna take for us to domesticate all of these wild lands. Probably not in our life time, if you ask me.' He said gesturing to the dense forest which surrounded them.

'Well. We do have enhanced lifespans, you never know.' She replied, knocking the blue stone embedded on her forehead.

Ryan frowned.

'That's only if we promote grades. In all honesty, I think that killing the indigenous population in this world is sick. Why do we only gain lifespan through absorbing other people's soul stones? Why can't we find another way?' He said, raising his voice.

Amanda furrowed her brows. 'You know why, idiot. We don't have a choice, perhaps in the future, some miracle man will find a way but you and I both know that the time and resources for that kind of research is something us humans as a whole can not afford. We have a mission. We have to pave the way for mankind and time is something we don't have.'

'Yeah, well I hope we get that miracle man. I don't care if it takes us a year, or a hundred, I-'

'Oi, shut the f.u.c.k up.' Alan yelled.

Both Amanda and Ryan glanced at him, before continuing their conversation at a lower volume.

'Anyway, enough of that touchy topic.' Amanda said. 'I hear headquarters plans to send over the big brains, a doctor of some sorts.'

Ryan raised his eyebrow sceptically.

'Let's hope we don't get some frail old man, It's difficult enough with all us ex-soldiers. Man, I miss guns.'

Amanda rolled her eyes.

'Hey, I'm dead serious. I almost lost my entire flipping arm the other day, those monster waves are vicious. If only we could manufacture bullets, or find some way to send them through the warp in shipments.'

Ryan's hopeful words were ignored by Amanda, who turned to face away from him. He just shrugged before idly fingering his iron tipped club.

Soon, Alan finished decapitating the boar and the group continued their journey back to base. Eventually, they reached the edge of the forest. By now, the rain had stopped and a bright orange sun hung in the sky.

The group felt a rush of relief as they saw the large metal tower just a few miles ahead, small outlines of people patrolling across the walls of the base could be seen.

'Like tin men in a tin castle.' Ryan muttered to no one in particular.

***

[The New World - Pangaea - Bastion]

'Lance corporal.' Said the bald muscular man in green uniform as he eyed the chevron that decorated Alan's right shoulder.

'Corporal.' Alan replied, with a quick salute.

They stared one another in the eyes for a brief moment, before the corporal nodded slightly.

'Report to command and find a senior officer. Show them your findings.'

'Yes sir.'

Alan and co swiftly saluted a second time, before quickly making their way past the watch post. The boar which they had killed earlier was carried by Ryan's dragonfly. The streets which ran through this town were full of activity, with vendors lining the muddy path.

'Spirit stones! Spirit stones here! Trade any goods for their full weight in spirit stones!'

'Selling spirit beasts at a fair price! We have the most common, to the rarest and most deadly!'

'Are you idle and have nothing to do, yet possess an adventurous spirit? Look no further than here! We will help you get started on your pioneering journey, Mari's Mission Board!'

Alan ignored most of the offers but paid special attention to the first one. He made a quick mental note to check the store out after handing in his mission findings to the higher ups.

Ryan grinned.

'Trading an item's full weight in spirit stones, huh.'

'Yeah, that's pretty rare. It's not everyday those merchants come in, but man are they loaded.'

'I've only got twenty or so spirit stones on me right now, I spent a couple hundred for an artefact upgrade at Benton's.'

The group began chatting in high spirits. This was because they made a large harvest of spirit beasts during their mission, they captured much more than just a single boar.

'Alright guys, I'll head in an hand in our findings. You wait here.' Said Alan, as he shifted his heavy rucksack slightly.

'Sure thing, but make sure to mention me, I need that promotion!' Ryan said with a grin.

'Whatever. Just don't go f.u.c.k.i.n.g about, we need to go and meet up with the portal master to induct some rookies next.'

The group g.r.o.a.n.e.d in dismay. It wasn't because they were unkind or unfriendly, it was simply because they were exhausted from the 72 hour trek without sleep.

'Even if our constitutions are enhanced, we still need rest. Damn higher ups.' Someone muttered spitefully.

'Well, there goes my good first impression, I look like a native with the amount of mud that's on me.'

The comment received a couple of warning glances from the rest of the group.

'Don't. If you say that to any native traders, don't even think about living another day.' Amanda scolded, elbowing the man in his ribs.

'My bad.' He replied, somewhat downcast.

***

[The New World - Pangaea - Bastion - Pioneer Command]

Alan handed his rucksack to the attendant. The latter nodded before emptying the contents carefully onto the metal table in front of the senior pioneer.

'Good job, lance corporal.'

Alan nodded, his dirty face wore a stern expression.

'Alright. Report.'

'Yes sir. The mission's total time was 154 hours total. My team and I made our way swiftly toward the North valley, encountering no natives or any spirit beasts above commander tier. Upon reaching the location, we set up a forward post and commanded our spirit beasts to search for the item mentioned in the mission briefing.'

The senior officer nodded.

'A medium spirit stone, I believe?'

'Yes sir.' Alan replied with a nod. 'The sample has been sealed. From the quantity we obtained and the level of spiritual essence within the valley, the chances for there to be a medium size spirit stone spring are very high.'

He gestured to a sealed box which emanated spiritual essence.

'Very good. Any geographical hazards?' The officer asked.

'Negative. The surrounding area was cleaned up by my team, about 2 miles around the valley should be clear of wild spirit beasts. Alan replied in his monotone grating voice.

The officer looked through the assortment of items on the table for a few minutes.

'Very good. Pioneer, take five of these medium sized spirit stones for your squad. Pearson has recorded your report and your merit. Not long until your promotion. Anyway, Your squad has been awarded a total of 150 sovereigns, 50 for yourself and 25 for each other member.

Oh yes, I've just remembered. Go clean up and meet the portal master, he expects you in half an hour, something about induction. Dismissed.'

Alan saluted, before making his way down the flight of stairs. He made his way out of the command centre.

'Close to a promotion, not bad.' He thought, scratching his chin.

In the new world, Pangaea, the pioneer organisation which was funded by the old world multi national government followed a military hierarchy, although not technically being part of the military. Alan and his squad mates were ex-soldiers who decided that the pay offered on this side was much better than the other.

The main official currency was inherited from the natives of Pangaea, sovereigns. Small bronze coins which contained spirituality in them. This meant that one could store their sovereigns in their soul stones, which was also the source of a pioneer's power.

Every single individual who warped into Pangaea would naturally form a soul stone on their foreheads, the reason was not yet known, but Alan was glad that they did, or else the chances for humanity to survive the cataclysm would be greatly diminished.

He felt mixed about the promotion system. One had to absorb soul stones in order to strengthen their constitution and once they reached a bottleneck, they would have to absorb someone else's soul stone.

This meant that in order to grow, you had to kill.

The problem was, the pioneer association forbid everyone from killing each other, any rogue individual who did was swiftly hunted down by pioneer spirit beasts and the rogue's inventory would be taken into storage, spirit stones, sovereigns, everything.

The association allowed the killing of natives however, only on a small scale. What was ironic was that it was the natives themselves who taught the modern humans about Pangaea and welcomed them with open arms.

'Humans and our hypocrisy.' He thought.