The general marquis gazed at the strategic map of the Great Wall region in front of him with a frown.
'What is the beasts planning?' He pondered deeply.
Ever since the first attack, they have not received a second one. One would assume that they would be attacked again considering the beasts overwhelming strength, but not only have they not, there were no signs of them at all. Marquis Hendrick didn't dare to send another airship to venture deep into the Wildlands to investigate and only ordered the airships to scout the peripheries.
They've already lost one airship and couldn't find any survivors. There were only a few corpses at the wreckage and many were still missing, of which they could not confirm whether dead or alive. They have no choice but to give up if the party was alive and escaped into the forest. They don't know what dangers lies within and it would be unwise to search blindly.
"Dales, my friend, I hope you are still alive out there." Hendrick sighed at his decision to giving Dales the dangerous mission. But thanks to the contribution they made, the Great Wall garrison had ample time to prepare for the imminent battle. Hendrick could picture the beasts successfully scaling the wall, if they had been caught off guard.
"Has there been any reports from the research team?"
"Yes, general." A soldier present, answered. Hendrick gave the soldier a silent acknowledgement to continue. "From the study of beast carcasses, whether it is by evolution or transformation, the difference between human and beast have thinned and starting to become vague. Half of their bodies is no different to humans. What is meant is that the composition of their human parts is exactly like humans and not just the appearance. As for the truth behind their extraordinary strength, it has yet to be uncovered."
"What are your thoughts on these beasts compared to the past?" Hendrick asked for the soldier's opinion. There was something peculiar about the beasts that he couldn't put his finger on.
"Ah…? Y-Yes, general." The soldier wasn't expecting the general marquis to ask for his opinion, but he quickly recovered. He felt flattered for being valued. "The beasts are very strange. Humans aren't physically strong compared to the beast so for a beast to have half their body composed of human parts, logically, they should not have been as strong as full-fledged beasts of the past. But not only are they not any weaker, they are even stronger."
The soldier noticed that the general marquis wasn't pleased with his response and figured that he had answered the wrong question. What he said was the same as not saying anything. It didn't mean anything at all. Humans can grow stronger physically through awakening without altering their form so it wouldn't be surprising if the beasts who is practically half human, had a similar ability.
What the general marquis was asking was the soldier's thoughts on their half-human, half-beast appearance.
"Ah… I'm no scientist but from a scientific perspective, I think it shouldn't be possible for beasts to evolve into humans. For a beast to have half human appearance, it could only be through-"The soldier continued.
"Copulation between human and beast." Hendrick interjected.
"Yes."
"If that was the case then that would mean there are other humans living outside of the human domain."
"That's impossible. All the humans have long evacuated behind the walls hundreds of years ago." A new voice interrupted.
"Brigadier general Rohan." The soldier saluted in greeting, seeing the person walking in.
"At ease." The soldier relaxed after the affirmation.
"It's rude to interrupt and not greet your immediate superior first, Rohan."
"Hahaha, rigid as usual. We've been pals for decades, loosen up man."
"Never mind then. You claim it is impossible but it's not like you live through the past. How would you know what really happened in history?" Hendrick was a bit helpless at his friend for being unconventional and not acting in a manner fitting for his position.
"Well that was what was written in history. Besides, why did the humans not come to the wall to seek refuge if they were really left outside?"
Hendrick was speechless with his friend. He sounded confident in denying the possibility, but his reasoning was sub-par and oversimplified. History was written by the people and it could be changed by the people. Many years have passed, and no one would really know whether history was painted black or white unless they have lived through such an era or the truth was passed on by word of mouth.
"Continue with the report."
"Yes, general. The research team discovered that the bones and claws of the humanoid beasts are especially durable and sharp. They concluded that it could be used to craft better equipment and cold weapons. The blacksmiths are dying to get their hands on the material to play with."
"Send them the materials then." Hendrick had a weird look. Was that even something he had to delay with? Whatever the blacksmith made was for military use anyway and did not need his direct approval."
"Yes… What about the meat? Do we still sell it to the merchants?"
"Out of the question. Burn it all." Hendrick waved off his hands. It was fine with the beast's meat they procured in the past, but not this time. That is 50% human meat! It would be considered cannibalism if people consume it.
"Yes, general." The soldier sighed in relief and left the room to carry out his order.
"So, what brought you here? Shouldn't you be defending the south wall?" Hendrick questioned.
It was humanity's fortune that the human domain was enclosed by a steep mountain range and there were only two mountain passes leading into it, a big one in the west and a small one in the south. The big mountain pass became the Great Wall, while the small one became the south wall.
Humanity did not have enough time and metal to build a pure wall of metal during the great retreat. If not for the steep mountain range acting as a natural barrier, the human domain of today would have long been overrun by beasts.
"Hahaha, the south wall has never been attacked and I heard you needed reinforcement, so here I am."
"That was in case of another full-blown war erupting. The beasts are acting strange and have not showed any signs of attacking again, despite the overwhelming strength they possessed. What if they went to attack your south wall instead?" Hendrick said in spite but froze right after.
"Hahaha… how is that possible? They NEVER attacked the south before."
"What is your brain made of? Just because they haven't attacked the south wall before doesn't mean they never will. Has the peaceful times in the south dulled your senses? Go, get your ass back there! I'm letting you borrow one of my airships!" Hendrick kicked him away.
"Alright, alright, I'll go." Rohan rubbed his bottoms. He couldn't hide the big grin on his face as he was leaving. Hendrick had never lent him an airship no matter how many times he had begged him in the past, but he willingly lent him one this time without him even asking. His trip here was not in vain. He didn't believe the south would ever be attacked. The south and west wall were separated by thousands of miles. He thought that Hendrick was just too paranoid after being scared silly by some powerful unknown beast.
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"Teacher Lina? Are we still going to continue the lesson?" Stella asked.
"Ah? Sorry… lets end the lesson here." Lina had been falling into a daze in the classroom. She didn't have the heart to teach. The classroom used to be filled with students, but now there was only 3 left. The rest had either been forced into their military service or requested leave and returned to their respective kingdoms. The 3 students were Stella and her bodyguards, who attends classes with her.
They have never experienced such shortage in students attending their classes before. The students usually decide to start their military service after completing their studies or taking a gap year before school commences, but never during their study.
Seeing how things currently are, there is not much point in continuing to teach. Perhaps the Dean would announce the suspension of classes soon. If a big war was coming their way, then everyone needed to contribute to the war efforts and not just the students.
Luckily, Lina had just recently awaken and officially became a wood user. She already served her military service and remembered the military combat techniques. Coupled with a few family exclusive techniques that her father recently taught her; she felt the need to train desperately hard. She didn't want to stay weak now that the opportunity to become strong had presented itself to her. She could picture Leon drifting out of her reach if she does not do her best to catch up to him.
Having set her mind, she decided to find a quiet place to practice her techniques and hone her skills. Her father told her that wood users possess extraordinary self-healing abilities and were the ultimate undying fighters. When she was celebrating her awakening with her parents, her father started retelling the stories how glorious and hot-blooded their ancestors were in battle with their self-healing ability.
But recalling that such a fighting style may not suit his daughter, he coughed awkwardly and told her to find her own path. Their ability has not been fully explored and still had a lot of potential.. Their ancestors had only utilized their wood ability in the simplest manner.