As the centipede's body vanished the final harnesses were connected to the corpse of the dragon. 5 large helicopters carried the giant carcass away slowly, eventually getting lost in the endless trees in the forest. As the carcass disappeared the four that found it looked at each other.
The burly man showed some compassion in his eyes as he looked at the flaming man. "Seems we found a dragon, a real one. Ain't that right bruno?"
The burning man named Bruno rolled his eyes before responding. "You really are a pain in my ass sometimes."
The burly man was named Jackson. Him and Bruno had grown up together from a young age, as they grew up they did almost everything together. Be it sports, art, games, etc. they were basically attached at the hip.
And then the awakening happened, and after a few weeks of being hunted down like fodder humans began to show strange abilities. Those who showed these abilities were drafted into the military no matter the age, of course they weren't able to actually control these people, the only reason people would possibly stay would be incentives.
The duo's families weren't rich but were not poor either, they were right in the center of the middle-class. As such, the incentives offered by the military were a drawing force for them to support their families.
The other two in this small group chuckled as they heard the banter between the two. The extremely skinny man was named Rowan, while the short one was named Traves.
The burly man gave them a side eye as his expression shifted. "And just what are you two having such a hearty chuckle at?"
They looked at each other before showing expressions of fear and knelt before him before putting on an act. "We aren't laughing at anything sir jackson."
The burly man patted their shoulders while letting out a chuckle. "You two go search for that little bug while me and Bruno here finish up."
They looked at each other again. He was still hung up on that bug even though it should be gone by now. Nonetheless they still went out to search for it.
Feeling proud of their accomplishment Jackson sucked a large breath into his lungs before roaring into the sky. "WE FOUND A DRAGON!!!."
Although Jackson wasn't as interested in mythology as the book nerd Bruno, he still found it amazing that such a creature could exist. As such this roar was him letting out his excitement, meanwhile Bruno looked at him with a smile.
After he finished his roar he clapped at his performance. "Impressive roar as always, and that dragon won't be the last of what we find."
After he finished, the pair came back and reported that they had found nothing. They then decided to head back to the base camp that had been set up not too far away from the location.
After they returned they headed for the quarters assigned to them, it was quite large in comparison to the other quarters, showing the status those with abilities had within the military.
They were all tired as they had been through much today, not only had they walked through hundreds of miles of forest in these few days they had to endure many beast attacks as well. The only satisfaction they had gotten was the dragon corpse.
The camp, although quiet, was still bustling with activity through the night. When down arrived Jackson was the first to wake up and went to the command post before he saluted the man standing before a screen.
He spoke to the officer. "Sir, what is the next course of action?"
The officer slowly turned around before revealing a ghastly appearance. His entire left side of his face had been replaced by a rough scarred patch of flash with a glass eye in his socket. Staring at Jackson he calmly stated.
"We'll make an outpost here for supplies, bring some mercenary groups here so that they can clear out the beasts nearby and make sure to tell them they will be compensated for each beast they bring in."
His deep voice could be heard even outside the command post and his voice rang within the ears of those within it. He coughed once before he turned around once more to continue observing the screen in front of him.
Jackson saluted once more before leaving and found the other three outside of it.
Traves was the first to speak. "So, what's the plan?"
Jackson smiled before bringing them to huddle and whispering into their ears.
Bruno, after hearing the plan, looked at Jackson with shock. He had never heard of such a plan before but his shock was soon replaced with a grin.
"It's a good plan, let's all do our part in the following month."
They all nodded and split up. Over the next few weeks a lot of changes would be happening at the camp within the Amazon. They built up walls and observatory's were built around the outpost with guards stationed within them, mercenary groups came and went in order to cash in on their earnings after hunting a few beasts and the once busy camp became even busier with the influx of mercenaries.
As the first week passed the outpost was gradually transformed from a military outpost to a mercenary exchange post. It was where mercenaries could earn large amounts of cash for what seemed like an easy job, besides a few hiccups when they encountered anything above level 3.
Jackson stood on the wall of the Outpost and looked outward towards the burnt forest, all the cinders had gone out already but there was still a nagging feeling that something was still there. He shook his head as he turned around and saw Bruno, also looking towards the scorched forest.
Bruno spoke as he turned to look at Jackson. "Do you have that feeling as well?"
Jackson slightly nodded as he stared at Bruno. "What do you think it is?"
Bruno put his hand to his chin and looked to be thinking before he spoke with confidence. "I...Have no idea."
Jackson looked at Bruno and started laughing at him while Bruno stared at the scorched earth, ignoring his laughter.
He spoke softly this time. "But I do know one thing, It's strong."
Jackson stopped laughing before he also looked at the forest. "It definitely is, but what could it be?"
They both sighed in defeat before they got off of the wall and walked around the camp in order to observe the bustling activity. As they invited only a few mercenary groups it was hard to imagine how it got to this scale, the only explanation being that they invited groups they were close with as well.
While they walked they heard a few arguments going on about the distribution of cash before an officer stepped in and told them off, they both let out a slight chuckle before entering the command post. They both saw the heavily scarred man and saluted.
Bruno spoke first this time. "Sir, development is proceeding fast. Many mercenary groups have entered the outpost and are slowly expanding the area we can use without fear of being attacked."
The scarred man looked at them. "Good. After they clear a two mile radius, tell them to leave."
Jackson and Bruno were stunned at his response. Jackson spoke first. "But sir, if we do that it would surely incite the age of the mercenaries."
The scarred man glared at them. "I don't care if you have to kill them, just get them to leave."
The two saluted once more before leaving the tent. They then looked at the outpost that was before them and then the exit.
Jackson posed a question "Just how many mercenaries are here?"
Bruno said immediately. "From what I know, there are 12 mercenary groups that each have between 5 to 10 members each and there are 30 individual mercenaries."
Jackson sighed once more, something he seemed to be doing a lot more lately and then stared at the exit himself. It wouldn't take too long for them to clear an area as wide as two miles, maybe another couple of weeks at most?
Bruno had left to go on top of the wall once more and looked at the scorched earth again. The feeling was getting stronger as the days passed, something was going to happen.
He heard footsteps and the other three had joined him to look at the clearing. They all had the same feeling that something was going to happen and when that something did happen they would be the first to respond to it.