Four days later, the wolves returned.
They had avoided this place since the Mage Guards still scared them, but they had only found little food recently.
Their hunger brought them back to the settlement.
But before the wolves could reach the settlement, they stopped.
A group of 25 humans had come out of the village.
The wolves became nervous since the five people at the front felt very dangerous to them.
Yet, they had been able to run rampant in here the last time, and their hunger was egging them on.
Because of that, they didn't retreat.
The hunters were taking out their weapons.
Clubs made of wood and stone, wooden spears, big stones, and tomahawks.
Their weapons were primitive, but this was the best the smiths could do without metal.
Eventually, the wolves started to run toward the humans, and the hunters felt their hearts beat at insane speeds.
One of the General Stage hunters took a huge stone in his hands and pulled back.
Then, he threw.
BANG!
The huge stone hit the wolf's head, exploding into gravel.
The wolf screeched and fell over.
The other wolves immediately stopped their advance and looked at their companion.
The hurt wolf tried to stand up, but it immediately fell over again.
It tried its absolute best to run away and retreat, but it had nearly no control over its legs and constantly fell over.
Blood was leaking out of its nose and mouth.
That stone had severely injured it.
When the hunters saw the damage this single stone had caused, they almost couldn't believe it.
These wolves were over two meters tall!
They were terrifying!
Yet, a single stone had nearly killed one of them!
The wolves had completely stopped advancing.
And then, all the fear in the hunters' bodies was replaced with fury.
These wolves had killed their friends!
These wolves were the reason why they had trouble sleeping over the past few days!
The hunters shouted in fury and attacked the wolves.
It was like the hunters had gone insane!
The wolves immediately turned around and ran away, but several spears and stones stopped four of them in their tracks.
In the end, only a single wolf escaped.
The other five were attacked by the hunters with their weapons.
Yet, some of the hunters had still been injured during these last moments, and one of them had nearly died.
They had been careless, but in the end, the five wolves were killed.
When the people saw that, they exploded into cheers.
And the hunters felt something for the first time.
Success.
Pride.
Status.
Power.
Admiration.
The people were treating them like heroes, and everyone was thanking them profusely.
Many women were looking at them with desire.
Many people were bringing over their favorite dishes.
Kids were asking them how they could become as strong as them in the future.
For the next couple of hours, the people returned to partying.
But the next day, the hunters brought down the mood.
During their practice excursions, they saw even more powerful beasts.
There were actually many beasts out there, but most of them avoided this place.
However, some powerful beasts would inevitably find their way here again.
And they had to be ready for everything.
The fear returned, and the people began working again.
However, there was a new feeling in the air.
Community.
The hunters had used the smith's weapons.
The smiths had used the gatherer's materials.
Everyone walked on the builder's roads.
The children were talking about their favorite teacher.
Everything was interconnected.
This was a community now.
The wolves' corpses were left for the hunters and the most outstanding people of their craft.
For the first time, the people tasted beast meat.
And it tasted amazing.
The bones and hides were given to the crafters, who created weapons and coats for the hunters.
Stone was tough but brittle.
These bones were much better for prolonged use.
More days passed.
Eventually, the old food had been used up, and the missing days of the last crop cycle finally showed their effect.
There wasn't enough food for everyone left.
The hunters were the first that got their food.
The farmers got their food next.
Then, the gatherers got theirs.
The smiths got their food next.
The remainder was split between the remaining workers.
And the people that didn't work?
They got nothing.
Eventually, even these stubborn sloths were forced to work by their hunger.
Most of them decided to catch fish to deal with their hunger.
And some of them were quite successful at that, catching more than necessary.
The people noticed the fish and wanted to trade them for food, but the fishers said that these fish tasted way better than some grain and rice.
For one fish, they wanted more.
While this was going on, the hunters left the small village again to hunt.
They needed to get food for the people.
Just two weeks ago, they would have never done something like this.
But after being admired and praised by the entire village, they felt something new.
Responsibility.
Their people were looking up to them and betting on them.
They had to care for the people.
It was their duty.
It was their job.
More beasts attacked.
More people died.
But the community survived and pulled together.
The gatherers found metal.
The smiths created real weapons.
The farmers created plenty of food.
The teachers got the children in order.
Everyone was getting better.
Everything was improving.
The mortal district had finally taken form.
Now, it would only take a couple of months until it was ready for the warrior academy.
But before that, something happened.
WHOOOOOM!
"Everyone! Immediately take shelter in your houses!"
An insanely loud voice echoed throughout the mortal district, and its cadence had a bewitching effect on the mortals, making them follow the orders immediately.
At the same time, the Mage Guards' faces turned into expressions of fear as they fled into the town.
The barrier around the town turned red as it worked at maximum capacity.
The mortals had seen this phenomenon from inside the town, but they had no idea what this meant.
They weren't sure what was happening.
And then, they saw something.
Far to the east, some villagers spotted something.
It was a moving mountain!
The mountain was probably over five kilometers tall, moving with surprising speed towards the town.
The humans almost couldn't believe what they were seeing.
In a matter of seconds, the mountain stopped beside the town.
It was a humongous crab made of rock and stone.
Just its shears were over two kilometers long, and its weight shook the entire world.
The mountain was almost as big as the entire town!
The crab raised one of its shears.
BOOOOOOM!
Suddenly, a humongous lightning bolt hit the crab in the face, blasting it several kilometers away.
Gigantic portions of its body broke off, falling to the ground.
BOOOOM!
Another huge lightning bolt blew the crab apart, scattering it across the surrounding kilometers.
The mortals couldn't form a rational thought.
They couldn't understand what had just happened.
Some of them noticed a figure flying near the corpse, and they were quite certain it was a human with black robes and silver hair, their body still crackling with lightning.
Three seconds later, the gigantic corpse of the crab vanished, and the human entered the town.
This had been the first Ancestral Beast that had attacked the town ever since Shang took over.
