Humanity: Evolve

Zhang Long grabbed his quarterstaff and dashed out of his room. The occupants of the neighbouring rooms had come out as well, all armed to the teeth with a variety of bizarre weapons and armour.

A man walked out of the room opposite Zhang Long's. He had brown skin and bulging biceps, reminding Zhang Long of pillar men from an old show he had seen before. He had a fluttering red cape dr.a.p.ed over his back.

The man's armour was reminiscent to that of a hoplite's, a gold-bronze helmet with two pieces of metal protecting his face and a long red crest hanging off of his helmet which reached down past his shoulders. A small hole had been created on the helmet's forehead, a green soul stone glinting from within.

He had a spear and shield strapped to his back, the former was made entirely of bronze whilst the latter was made of some sort of wood. The shield had a bronze rim all of the way around, with a stubby metal boss sticking out from the front.

'My name's Eisel. Nice to meet you.' He said, holding out a muscular hand in greeting.

Zhang Long nodded, shaking Eisel's hand and shaking it.

'Mine is Zhang Long. What's happening out there?' He asked.

Eisel cracked his neck and knuckles before responding. 'It's a beast wave.'

He then glanced at Zhang Long's blue soul stone before adding.

'It's probably your first one. Stick with me and I'll make sure you don't die.'

Zhang Long raised a brow. 'It's that dangerous?'

Eisel nodded with a grin.

'Thousands of beasts come charging at us from random directions every week. They usually gather around a single strong spirit beast, a high grade 4 one if we're unlucky. If we're lucky, it'll be a weaker grade 3 spirit beast leading the horde, but the chances aren't that high.'

He shifted his heavy bronze armour before continuing.

'You're new so you probably haven't heard about any of the beast wave grades yet. The weakest and smallest in size are called "Hazards". They consist of a motley collection of grade one and grade two spirit beasts.

The more threatening but easily manageable beast waves are called "Perils". They are a step up from the previous Hazards, with grade two spirit beasts making up the bulk of the troop and a few elite grade threes here and there. They are the most common and are pretty much the only ones we get these days.

The most threatening beast waves we've encountered are know as "Calamities", consisting of only grade three and four spirit beasts. Whenever these have appeared, one or two walls will definitely fall and the number of pioneers will take a massive hit.' Eisel said with a grim tone.

Zhang Long frowned.

'Our organisation only has a small number of grade twos, let alone grade threes. How do we manage to survive Calamity grade beast waves?'

Eisel grinned. 'The walls are covered with large-scale siege artefacts. Those ballista are deadly toward both armoured and unarmoured spirit beasts. Even a grade one human operating a scorpio or ballista can take out grade one and two spirit beasts with ease as long as they hit their target.'

The pair walked out of the Pitcher inn, scores of armoured pioneers following behind them.

Eisel tapped his soul stone, causing a green orb to fly out and land on the ground. It shifted into the form of a grey feathered owl. It's head turned to an ungodly angle and studied Zhang Long's unfamiliar face before hooting and flying up into the sky.

The other pioneers summoned their spirit beasts as well, most of which were grade one. A few had summoned horses or other large sized spirit beasts and mounted them, pulling out weapons with reach such as long spears or falx swords.

Winter padded over, tongue lolling out of it's beak-like jaw. It's amber eyes flitting across the bodies of the nearby spirit beasts.

Zhang Long followed the other's examples, swiftly swinging his leg over Winter's flank. He sat comfortably on it's back, quarterstaff in hand.

He patted the berserk wolf's side gently, urging it to follow behind Eisel. The latter's eyes had widened in surprise upon seeing Zhang Long's grade two spirit beast. He then looked at Zhang Long, gaze resting on his body for an uncomfortable amount of time. Eisel then retracted it, as if nothing had happened.

As the group of twenty made their way away from the inn and onto the main street, a few other lone pioneers joined them, eventually creating a large crowd of men and spirit beasts.

Their numbers swelled as they merged with another similar sized group that was also heading toward the southern gates.

After about half an hour of walking, the city's towering walls came into sight, near invisible in the darkness if not for the glow of perimeter lights.

The wall itself had tall metal poles which reached ten metres into the air, LEDs mounted facing all four directions.

Shadows danced as the silhouettes of people paced back and forth across the wall.

Hundreds of people were jogging to different positions on the walls, their spirit beasts following behind them. The majority stuck together in groups whilst a few others went alone.

Zhang Long caught sight of Alan barking commands to his squad, before his vision was obscured by someone pushing an oversized crossbow forward.

Eisel motioned for him to follow, before walking up the ramp of the interior wall.

'It'll be safer back here. Whilst you could get your hands on a lot of loot the closer to the beast wave, the danger increases significantly.'

Zhang Long nodded, nudging Winter forward. They stopped next to Eisel on top of the wall and looked down.

The walls had been built so that the ones on the outside were shorter than those on the inside. This meant that the siege artefacts could take shots at the incoming wave of spirit beasts, thinning their numbers without being under direct threat.

A single man stood on a podium on the innermost wall. He faced outward with an expression of grimness.

Zhang Long could barely make out a yellow speck on his forehead, signifying the legendary grade 3.

Eisel noticed his gaze. 'That's the southern gate commander. He's in charge of defending these walls and is one of the four gate commanders in Bastion.'

'He's the guard commander?' Zhang Long asked.

The muscular dark skinned man nodded, gently stroking the owl-like spirit beast on his shoulder.

Zhang Long couldn't hold back his curiosity, sending several glances at Eisel's spirit beast.

The latter smiled widely and let out a laugh.

'Don't poach Athena from me, alright?' He said teasingly.

'Poach? You mean steal it?' Zhang Long asked with a frown.

Eisel nodded. 'Some people murder others and try to steal their spirit beasts. Nasty fellows.'

A part of Zhang Long wanted to exclaim in shock, but then again, strong spirit beasts would make for strong incentive to murder. Especially in this world where strength directly determined whether one would be able to survive or not.

He turned to look across the battlements, feeling impressed by how orderly all of the pioneers were being.

Even though there wasn't any real chain of command between the guardsmen and the pioneers, both sides seemed to have a tacit understanding of what to do.

Only under the threat of imminent destruction could humans truly band together. However, once the danger passed, there would without a doubt be trouble makers fighting over the spoils of war.

Suddenly, thunderous footsteps echoed out from the darkness. The intimidating thumping and thudding sounded as if there were an army of headless hors.e.m.e.n coming to claim their lives.

From the corner of his peripheral, Zhang Long noticed someone running over to the southern gates commander and whispering frantically in his ear. The man's face turned grave, as if his entire family and all of his relatives had been put to death.

Then, he tapped his yellow soul stone and shouted.

'Attention all warriors! The incoming beast wave is graded as Peril! Everyone stay on or behind the walls to fight the incoming spirit beasts!'

The commander's voice seemed to stretch out for miles, it reverberated and sounded as if he had yelled through a microphone.

The moment he had graded the incoming beast wave, everyone below seemed to become restless. That was because even though the wave had been deemed as a Peril, most of the people here were only at the first grade.

Only the veterans and grade two humans understood that they could pass the wave with ease, as long as the ballistics remained intact and in operation throughout the battle.

Then, they came.

There were only ten at first, keeping close to the ground as they charged forward recklessly.

Then came another ten.

Then twenty.

And soon, hundreds of beasts filled the road which stretched onward and away from the city.

'Load!' Someone shouted with a dry voice.

The sound of grunting and tendon ropes creaking in complaint matched the bestial din of the incoming spirit beasts.

After half a minute, the same dry voiced person shouted again.

'Activate!'

Flashes of blue and green lit up the starry night sky as pioneers and guardsmen alike injected their ballistic artefacts with spiritual energy. Runes pulsated as they hovered over the artefacts, imbuing them with mystical power.

'Fire!'

The sound of arrows and boulders being fired was like a gun being shot. There was a creak from the artefacts and then a clear whooshing noise, green-blue streaks of light travelling rapidly away from the city walls and into the horde of spirit beasts below.

The cries of beasts and the sickening crunch of shattered bone caused the weaker minded to shiver. Others stood steadfast, hurriedly resetting their weapons.

A ballista required an entire team of men to reload, taking at least a full minute before it could fire again. The time required to reset and launch a catapult was even more than that.

In that short period of time, the positions of the killed or injured spirit beasts were replaced.

Just as they fired off a second volley into the ranks of baying beasts, the attackers had already reached the outermost wall.

Green flashed from below as each beast activated their talents. Dust fell from the wall as it was bombarded with attacks that could dent and batter armoured vehicles with ease.

It was only till then did Zhang Long realise how sturdy the walls really were.

Suddenly, his mind flashed in warning. Winter leapt backwards and he nearly fell off his mount. A trace of wind swept across his face, leaving a shallow cut across his cheek. A second claw slicing toward his unprotected heart.

Eisel's arms blurred, his bronze spear shooting out like a harpoon, directly skewering Zhang Long's assailant.

It was an eagle. In terms of bodily shape it was, aesthetically however, it looked like a fish with avian features.

'It's gone through evolution.' Zhang Long muttered, nodding his thanks towards his bronze armoured protector.

'Easy money.' Eisel chortled, kicking the dead body off of his spear.

Others standing by on the inner wall had been attacked just like him, some handling the assault casually like Eisel, whilst others were wounded and bleeding out on the floor.

Zhang Long's eyes constricted. 'That would've been me if not for Eisel.'

He resisted the urge to use his talent as he saw the injured being carried away down the back of the wall.

It was at this moment that the strong had been separated from the weak. The numbers of people on the walls dropped by more than a half, with mostly grade twos remaining and the occasional lucky grade ones as well.

Most of the weaker pioneers and guardsmen had long opted to defend from behind the gates where they were less vulnerable to aerial attack.

Zhang Long decided to play it safe, drawing out spiritual energy from his soul stone and activating his quarterstaff. Much to his surprise, the animal carvings seemed to come alive, roaring with vigour.

The dim red gemstone sitting on top flashed and a ball of crackling flame appeared above it.

He twirled the weapon, creating a flaming circle in the air which gradually fizzed away into darkness.

Another instinctual warning came from Winter through their mind link.

Zhang Long reacted instantly, lunging outwards with his upper body and beating away another eagle-fish.

The spirit beast squawked in agony and the smell of burnt flesh wafted into into his nose as the bird was set alight.

It panicked and flapped it's wings. That moment was all Eisel needed.

The burnt bird joined it's compatriot on the ground at Eisel's feet, body still smouldering.

The burly man glanced at Zhang Long's quarterstaff in surprise, before quickly spearing another eagle-fish out of the sky.

'As long as I don't kill anymore spirit beasts than I need, I'll be fine.' Zhang Long thought, jabbing outwards with his staff.

By now, the outermost wall had been completely swamped. The main gate had been bashed to smithereens and waves of spirit beasts flooded in, a cacophony of baleful roars sounding out as they leapt onto the guards and pioneers with reckless abandon.

The moon that hung low in the sky had been obscured by a mass of fluttering wings, all of the natural light was blocked out like a cloud of misfortune.

The number of eagle-fish that swooped down in a suicidal manner picked up as more and more spirit beasts joined the flock hovering in the sky.

Then, a loud cry echoed through the dark night, drawing both human and spirit beast eyes to an extremely large bird-like figure in the sky.

It's wings were each the size of a building, whilst it's main body was slightly smaller.

An instinctual fear filled both Zhang Long and Winter's minds, causing them to tremble.

It took all of his effort just to stay sitting on Winter's back, his arms clasping weakly at the wolf's feathers.

He knew instantly that this was the beast wave's leader, a grade three spirit beast.

As if to confirm his guess, the large figure began to flap it's wings faster and stronger, causing dust and wind to blow at the humans below.

It's wings flashed yellow, signalling the activation of it's talent.

Zhang Long fell, his grasp slipping away from Winter's sides.

The grade three spirit beast cried out, the huge gusts created by it's wings sending pioneers and spirit beasts alike flying off of the walls and into the ground below.

Several lights which illuminated the sky shattered and Zhang Long's surroundings faded away into blackness.

Only the few swaying lights further away had remained, flickering in a worrying manner.

A blanket of feathers swooped down toward him, sharp talons outstretched as if grasping for his throat.

He lunged forward, smashing a wing and causing his assailant to fall down into the masses of humans below.

Although the land dwelling spirit beasts had only broken through the first gate, the aerial beasts directly bombarded the second and third walls with their bodies.

Zhang Long jumped to the side at a warning signal from Winter, who was engaged in a similar messy battle. A green flash passed by where he had just been standing.

Then, just as he was about to strike back, a second green flash ripped across his side. A searing hot pain marked his left rib as he stumbled back, swinging out wildly with his quarterstaff.

Even if he had learnt how to use the weapon, that was only to combat humans, not small and quick spirit beasts.

He cursed his clumsiness silently, activating his talent and healing his side. The itch of rejuvenation tempted him to scratch the wound but he ignored it, eyes darting around in the darkness.

Pain flashed through his mind. Winter had been wounded. Zhang Long backed away from where he originally stood, glancing at his tamed spirit beast.

A long red line had been drawn across Winter's rear. He sighed in relief whilst fending off another attack from an eagle-fish.

It was only a shallow wound.

The berserk wolf's rage began to emanate outward, amber eyes turning red and it's body let out a green glow.

Winter was outnumbered three to one, with it's opponents being airborne. However, avians had lower bone density and a weaker frame compared to other creatures.

Even though they were grade two, their bodies were fragile in order to compensate for their agility and speed, even a half hearted blow from Zhang Long could badly injure if not cripple one.

Winter's muscles clenched, explosive power rustling underneath it's feathers.

Then it leapt.

With a deep and throaty roar, it's talons came crashing down on one of the eagle-fish, leaving a red stain and a pile of feathers on the ground.

The other two eagle-fish fluttered backward in panic, attempting to escape.

But it was too late.

Zhang Long's flaming quarterstaff whistled toward them, buying Winter enough time to chomp down on one eagle-fish, whilst the other was cleaved in half by a talon.

A shriek of rage came from behind, alerting him to the incoming attack.

Zhang Long had gotten used to their attack patterns now. It was simply to dive and repeat, only their outstanding speed made them any sort of threat.

He felt the wind blowing across his back, but instead of dodging, he twisted his torso and lashed back with his quarterstaff, catching the spirit beast in it's midriff.

Though it's companion had been brutally stopped by Zhang Long, a second eagle-fish dived down with a flash of green.

Luckily, Winter was there. Having finished off it's attackers the wolf stuck to Zhang Long's rear like a shadow.

It's claws became coated in a sheen of thin green light, piercing through the air with a short "boom".

This attack contained even more power than the wolf's previous ones, berserker tactics coming into play.

Winter let out a frenzied roar as it shredded the incoming eagle-fish before the latter had even noticed what happened.

The only evidence left behind was it's blood that soaked across Winter's front.

Zhang Long nodded in thanks to his spirit beast. The loyal creature had already saved him several times.

Winter stared back with red eyes, it's face a depiction of blood thirst and unstoppable carnage.

'Luckily, it's loyalty is stronger than it's berserk state.' Zhang Long thought, turning back to the ongoing battle.

The flock in the sky had exhausted it's numbers in their careless dive bombing tactics. Although they had suffered more casualties than the human defenders, the loss that the humans felt was greater.

Whilst a flock of eagle-fish could reproduce and refill their ranks within a couple of years, humans would take decades to return to their former numbers.

Numerous grade two pioneers and guard captains were being hurried away from the wall, groaning in pain as they were protected vigilantly by their comrades.

The battlements were now devoid of grade ones, the scene of bloody brutality too much for them to handle.

The eagle-fish had stopped their attack momentarily, giving the humans a breather.

It was only now did Zhang Long realise that his body was riddled with lesser wounds, as was Winter's.

He had done well to heal the worse ones the moment they had appeared, exhausting half of his spiritual energy in the process.

Zhang Long wanted to go and heal others that had fallen, but the flock above would not allow him to, suddenly resuming their suicidal attack.

A particularly loud cry of pain came from the darkness to the side, drawing his attention.

He charged forward, flaming quarterstaff lighting the way.

When he saw the source of the cry, his eyes constricted and he almost stumbled.

'Eisel!' He yelled, activating his talent.

Winter snarled and took on the assailant, giving Zhang Long time to heal the man.

Athena, Eisel's spirit beast, was nowhere to be seen. He could only hope that the owl had been called back into Eisel's soul stone, rather than killed.

As his spirit vision was engaged, he realised that through the large punctures through Eisel's bronze armour lay gaping wounds, blinking dangerously red.

Zhang Long immediately pulled spiritual energy from his own soul stone, working at the worst wounds first.

'Run.' The dying man muttered hoarsely.

Zhang Long held him adamantly, refusing to let go.

'You saved me at the beginning of this beast wave. I will return the favour.'

Eisel shook his head, blood and spittle forming a ghastly red foam at the edges of his mouth.

'You don't unders...'

A loud whimper came from ahead and pain streaked through Zhang Long's mind like a thunderbolt.

'Winter!' He shouted, putting Eisel down gently and striding forwards.

For the first time ever, he was angry of his own volition. His face was contorted with rage as he raised his quarterstaff.

He was going for the kill.

Because Winter was fatally wounded.

The beast was in a worse state than Eisel had been.

And then, a flash of yellow broke through the darkness.