Humanity: Evolve

All he could do was raise his flaming quarterstaff in a meagre attempt to defend himself.

The weapon was forced into his c.h.e.s.t, claws raking over his body.

Zhang Long clutched the quarterstaff in desperation, it was his only chance at survival.

Then all sense of feeling in his left arm momentarily disappeared followed by a pain which almost made him faint.

His left arm which held the quarterstaff fell onto the ground in a fountain of blood, and then Zhang Long's assailant vanished like a ghost, leaving behind only a few metre-long feathers.

The whole ordeal lasted less than ten seconds.

In ten seconds, Zhang Long had been severely crippled and was rendered unable to battle.

He grabbed at the dropped arm and placed it into his leather bag, his mind clouded as he tried to retain consciousness.

'Gah!' Blood spurted like water from a fountain as he bent over.

Zhang Long grasped desperately at his quarterstaff, before falling on his rear.

There was a "slosh" sound as he landed in a pool of his own blood.

The darkness around him seemed to reach outwards, light fading with every second.

He felt his blood dripping out of his severed arm, his life flowing away with it.

With mental heave, he activated his talent and sealed off his wounds.

The pain slowly disappeared and feeling returned, his condition no longer one of blindness and numbness.

A quarter more of his spiritual energy had been used up sealing all of his wounds, leaving him with one last quarter.

His method was a superficial one. It stopped him from losing any more blood, whilst also relieving him of the heart rending pain.

This meant that Zhang Long now possessed the ability to attempt escape, as for whether he'd be successful, that was another matter entirely.

'Even then, I have to save Winter and Eisel.' He sputtered weakly.

He then looked around warily.

The grade 3 spirit beast was gone, the only proof that it was nearby were the agonising screams of pain from the darkness around him.

'It hasn't killed me, Winter or Eisel yet. Could that bird be toying with us?' He wondered, dragging his ruined body across the red stained wall.

He quickly shook his head, disputing the thought. 'If it were that smart, it wouldn't have commanded the eagle-fish flock to use such suicidal tactics.'

'It's probably letting us bleed out. I vaguely remember that some species of bird like to leave their prey to bleed to death, before consuming them.'

His mind jolted when he heard quiet- almost silent whimpers from ahead.

Winter!

The wolf's coat of white feathers were gone, replaced with blood and gore. Zhang Long even saw some white bone jutting out from beneath.

His heart hurt as he took in the sight. The loyal spirit beast had fought blow for blow against the grade 3 eagle-fish, incurring heavy injuries in the process.

Without delaying, Zhang Long recalled Winter into his soul stone. As for how long the wolf would take to heal, he wasn't sure. Only, with it's level of injuries, it would take a long time.

'I'll need to find Eisel next. Only then can I leave.'

Moving under the darkness was petrifying. Every time he heard a fluttering of wings nearby, Zhang Long would duck down and feign death.

He couldn't be sure how close or how far the eagle-fish were, his ears had been badly hurt in the flock leader's attack, as had the rest of his body.

Everything in his right ear seemed hollow, whilst his left ear was near deaf.

If not his heightened state of mind, brought about by his desperate struggle for life, he'd probably have died several times over by now.

At last, after an eternity of scrambling in the dark, Eisel's bronze armour and bulky build could be seen leaning back against the side of the wall.

His worst injuries had been healed already, only a few smaller scratches and gashes had been left untended for Zhang Long previously had no time nor enough spiritual energy to spare. He planned to use the last quarter for life threatening wounds only.

He would hate to end up in a situation where only a small amount of spiritual energy would be needed to save his life, but it had been wasted on healing a bruise.

'Eisel.' Zhang Long called, albeit quietly lest he alert the flock leader.

The man raised his head, eyes clouded in confusion. He seemed to regain some soberness as he laid eyes on Zhang Long's figure.

'You. Why are you still here?'

'To save you.' Zhang Long replied, slipping his remaining arm under Eisel's body.

He tried to lift, but with his injured state he could barely shift the man a few inches off the ground.

'How are you still alive?' Eisel asked, pushing himself against the wall's ledge gently.

'That bird leaves it's prey to bleed to death, I healed myself with my talent and made my way over here.' Zhang Long explained.

'Why are you so heavy?' He asked.

'My armour.' Eisel g.r.o.a.n.e.d, undoing the clasps on his bronze arm guards.

Zhang Long quickly removed the latter's leg armour, making sure to place them gently on the ground. If he made any loud noise at this stage, all of his hardwork would be entirely for naught.

Soon, all of Eisel's bronze armour had been neatly stacked against the ledge. This time Zhang Long had more success in helping the man up.

'Where should we go now?' Zhang Long asked with a frown.

'It'll take fifteen minutes to walk towards the ramp off the wall, it's in that grade three spirit beast's direction though.' Eisel answered with a pondering look.

Just as Zhang Long began to walk back in the direction they came, Eisel stopped him.

'It'll take us just as long to reach the gate commander. He's grade three, It may be safer to just stay near him.'

Zhang Long turned back without saying a word. It was clear which choice was better.

They could risk death and put themselves out wide defencelessly in the open or find a safer position to stay until the end of the beast wave.

The two trudged on, mostly silent if not for the occasional quiet grunts of exertion.

Suddenly, there was a squawk of rage from behind.

Zhang Long and Eisel dived to the ground, leaning precariously against the wall's edge. The ledges separated every one metre, providing scarce amounts of cover.

They were in an awkward position, half dangling off of the wall.

The sound of flapping wings seemed to come from every direction. It was as if they hung on a cliff's edge, eagle-fish below, above and on all sides surrounding them.

Zhang Long gritted his teeth and hugged a crevice on the wall with his right arm. The quarterstaff was difficult to use single handedly thus it had been stowed in between the leather straps of his bag.

The flapping and occasional shrieking seemed to get closer every second, every second Zhang Long's arm got number and number.

His hand ached and the jagged rocks of the crevice bit at his palm. Even so, he held on.

It was life or death.

If they were found, they'd be killed.

If they fell, they'd break every bone in their body and then some from the height.

He had no choice but to endure the pain and numbness, no matter how long they had to hide there.

After an eternity of hanging, a squawk of exasperation came from directly above. Then the flapping of wings became fainter and fainter as their predator flew away at a leisurely pace.

They waited for a minute, before Zhang Long couldn't take it anymore. He tried to pull himself up but to his dismay his entire arm was numb.

Eisel scrambled onto the wall, wiping the sweat off from his forehead.

'Eisel, pull me up.' Zhang Long gasped, a light gust of wind almost making him fall off.

The man didn't respond, seemingly looking into the darkness.

'Eisel!' He said in a half shout-half whisper.

Finally, he got a response.

'Zhang Long. You know what I said about poachers earlier?' He asked.

His voice was the epitome of relaxation. It seemed as if the threat of the grade three spirit beast didn't exist to him. It was as if he was strolling casually across the sandy beach with his friend, asking the latter a normal question.

A feeling of dread filled Zhang Long's heart. He desperately tried to pull himself up but to no avail.

'We're terrible fellows.' Eisel said, answering his own question.

He then turned and bent down, looking Zhang Long in the eyes.

He expected a look of panic or despair, but was met with indifference and coldness. Of course, Zhang Long really did feel terrible, but he would never give his enemy satisfaction.

'I've killed, poached and sabotaged hundreds of pioneers.' Eisel admitted, grinning savagely.

Zhang Long struggled to retain his indifferent expression as he dangled. His mind flitted through different solutions and scenarios but he couldn't think of any way to get out.

This was because each one required him to be able to pull himself up, which he couldn't do. From then, how would he overpower Eisel, who stood at two metres tall and was covered in bulging muscles?

With one arm and his weakened state, not a chance. By the time he managed to pull himself up, Eisel would probably push him down again.

Seeing that Zhang Long wasn't intimidated at all, he raised his voice.

'You know, I didn't expect to be nearly killed by that grade three spirit beast. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead and you... Well. You'd probably still have a chance at surviving.'

He laughed, his voice echoing out into the darkness.

"Squawk!"

The sound of high pitched screeching came from the darkness, as if responding to Eisel's laughter.

Zhang Long narrowed his eyes in determination.

'This is my chance!'

'Only... I need to restore feeling to my arm.'

Talent!

He realised that perhaps his healing talent could help him in his time of need.

'I don't know if this numbness counts as an injury, or whether I'd be able to heal it though.' He thought, frowning.

His mind entered a sort of super concentrated state, ideas and thoughts zipped through his mind like bullets from a Gatling gun.

'If it's carpal tunnel syndrome... Oh, please be carpal tunnel syndrome.' Zhang Long chanted in his mind repeatedly as he drew spiritual energy from his soul stone.

The chances of his arm being affected by carpal tunnel syndrome were near nothing, but the damage done to his body by the flock leader might be effecting his arm in some way.

The world turned grey and all of a sudden the arm which he could barely see became a blur of red.

'Muscle damage and a fractured shoulder. How the hell did I manage to hang here for so long?' He asked himself in wonder.

Then he realised that the soul stone on his head made him far stronger than an ordinary man and the injuries he could take were far more.

'If I heal the damaged muscle around my biceps and triceps, the blood flow should correct itself. Then, as a side effect, feeling would be restored.'

He raised his head and squinted, trying to see what Eisel was up to.

The deranged man had a look of panic on his face. He slapped himself for impulsively attracting the attention of the spirit beasts.

The surroundings were briefly lit up by a flash of green, before returning back into darkness.

An eagle-fish swooped in, slicing at Eisel's unarmoured body.

Zhang Long lowered his head, hearing Eisel's distressed shout hoping that the eagle-fish wouldn't notice him.

'Heal!'

Dim blue light seeped from his eyes into his arm, causing the muscles beneath the skin to ripple.

A familiar itch broke out across his upper body, signalling the start of rapid healing.

The red covering his right arm began to dim, slowly fading away into colourlessness.

Zhang Long felt the numbness disappear in almost an instant, as if it had never been there.

The ache in his muscles had disappeared too, replaced by a feeling of strength.

He studied the battle above, waiting for his chance to escape.

Eisel held no weapon and wore no armour, he was being beaten practically one sidedly.

He punched forward as an eagle-fish dove at him, injuring the spirit beast but damaging his hand in the process.

His white knuckles had been exposed to the air, the flesh that concealed it had been ripped off by the eagle-fish.

Eisel cried out in pain, stumbling backwards and leaning against the wall's ledge.

His body was in a bad state, blood ran down several large gashes across his arms and back.

Although his worst injuries were previously healed by Zhang Long, the minor ones had been left untouched.

The vigorous movement had forced the barely clotted wounds to tear open, blood flowing out of the raw flesh steadily.

Eisel showed signs of attempting to flee, limping sideways towards the direction of the gate commander.

Two eagle-fish blocked him, their wide wings batting against his face, claws tearing at his torso.

He let out a scream of agony, which stopped shortly. His throat had been shredded, leaving him unable to produce any sound.

At this moment, Zhang Long pulled himself upwards hastily. It took him a full five seconds to climb up, luckily though, the eagle-fish were occupied with Eisel.

He reached back with his arm and hefted the quarterstaff awkwardly. Before, he needed to use two hands to wield it effectively, but Zhang Long could defend himself somewhat if he rested the bottom of the short staff against the ground.

Zhang Long looked icily at Eisel, who was dying. The man's body was being consumed by the eagle-fish, his ruined face seemed to be making a terrified expression. His left arm was clutching a small satchel, blue light shimmered from within.

Zhang Long stopped for a moment.

'Without Winter, I'm defenceless however I don't have enough spiritual energy to heal it.'

He stared at the satchel which Eisel held close, waving his other arm in an attempt to bat away the eagle-fish.

'Without my left arm, I can't use my quarterstaff to defend myself.'

He injected the rest of his spiritual energy into the short staff, the beasts engraved on it roaring with blood l.u.s.t.

The red gem on the tip flashed, illuminating the dark surroundings, before producing a bright orange fireball.

The eagle-fish immediately changed their target, charging toward Zhang Long.

'My quarterstaff is making me a prime target for these birds, if I don't hurry more will come.'

He kicked the bottom of his staff, using the momentum to sweep outward with his good arm.

The staff collided with one of the Eagle-fish, setting it alight and knocking it into the other.

The two fluttered their wings in panic before smashing into the ground.

Zhang Long's goal wasn't to kill them, only to give him enough time to summon and heal Winter.

Eisel's eyes lit up with hope, he shoved the spirit stone satchel across the floor.

'Heh Meh!' He croaked, blood bubbling from his mouth.

Zhang Long avoided his eyes, taking the satchel and backing off.

He was about to raise his quarterstaff to finish the man off, but hesitated.

Even though Eisel had attempted to kill him and poach Winter, something within stopped him from killing the man in retaliation.

In fact, he had thought of pushing Eisel off of the wall, but he had removed the thought from his mind.

Why?

It was because he remembered the deal he made with Alan, not so long ago.

He knew that to kill Eisel was like killing himself, throwing off the shackles of morality and refuting his own personality.

He had become a doctor because he couldn't bear to see people suffering injuries unjustly from those in power. He hated the fact that those important officials could bribe their way out of punishment, leaving a trail of injured and dead in their wake of carelessness.

But who was he to stop these official people? He'd just end up like their victims.

Thus, he could only tidy the trail behind them, repairing all of the damage they had caused.

This was his sole purpose of living.

Now in Pangaea, he had been presented a chance to rise to power and stop these corrupt officials from harming anymore people.

If he killed Eisel now in a fit of rage, he would destroy his chances at fighting against the corruption.

One murder would lead to another, one taste of abused power would lead to another.

This was how people slowly lost their morals and spiralled into corruption.

Zhang Long sighed, his gaze lingering on Eisel for a moment.

Then he grabbed a spirit stone from the satchel which contained too many to count and absorbed it, the rush of spiritual essence filling his veins.

After using three stones, he summoned Winter.

It's body was punctured through the stomach, blood and intestine hanging in a mess.

Zhang Long hurried, activating his talent and targeted Winter's worst wounds. The wolf's life hung on a thread, it's life draining away by the minute.

As blue light seeped into the wolf's belly, the intestines and blood slowly withdrew back into the wolf's body.

The blood rapidly scabbed at a speed noticeable to the n.a.k.e.d eye, before the scab fell off revealing smooth pink flesh underneath.

Winter opened it's eyes slowly, pupils moving around sluggishly to rest on Zhang Long's face.

'It's okay buddy, I've healed you completely.' He comforted, stroking it's head gently.

It shook itself from it's weary state, pushing itself up and nudging the stub of Zhang Long's missing arm.

He quickly absorbed another spirit stone, causing it to dissipate in floating blue particles of light.

Then he pulled his severed arm from his leather bag, gently pressing it against the stub and activating his talent.

The stub had no reaction, however the severed arm began to wriggle in a frightening manner.

Blood floated out of the cut end, digging into the stub which it was once attached to.

Zhang Long felt an acute pain as the blood penetrated his skin. Then, the severed arm began to bind to the stub, flesh writhing as it regenerated.

After a few minutes, his arm had been completely reattached. He moved it around gingerly, before grinning involuntarily.

'Now I need to get to the gate commander. Winter is healed so I can use it as a mount, I'll be able to get there in at least five minutes.'

He then turned to look at Eisel, his smile disappearing.

Zhang Long stopped and thought for a moment, before speaking.

'Eisel.'

The man turned to look at him, gaze flickering with momentary hatred, before returning to his previous helpless state.

'I won't kill you. But even so, I won't let you off so easily.'

He activated his talent and healed the man's throat and injured leg with a flash of blue energy.

'I'll give you one chance to survive. Whether you live or die, it's no longer any of my business. I can only hope that if you do manage to make it past this beast tide, you'll change your ways.'

'No more murdering, no more poaching.'

He turned and mounted Winter, lifting his quarterstaff and placing it horizontally across his l.a.p.

'I won't report you to the organisation, that would make me responsible for your death, but I hope that you alone will be able to atone for your sins.'

He nudged Winter's sides with his knees, the latter bounding forward.

Eisel opened his mouth to speak, but the man and wolf had already vanished into the darkness.

He clenched his fists, before releasing them with a sigh.

He stood silently, before murmuring.

'Atone for my sins...'