Within every living being, there resided the... desire... to become something greater. Something better than what they currently were. This desire was widely referred to as Ambition. The urge, the need, to strive and toil in order to propel oneself to greater heights.
Ambition was the driving force that led to the development of today's society. Without ambition, there would be no innovation, no creativity. In fact, without ambition, very few people would even look forward to the next day. Without ambition, there would be no future.
However.
Ambition could easily be mistaken for something else. Something much deeper. Much more sinister. Something that could drive a being insane with the need for something.
Greed.
As living beings, humans also bore that urge to be something greater than whatever they currently were. They always sought to attain greater benefits. To propel themselves above others. But this desire could often become twisted along the way.
It was much easier for a being that had ambitions to become greedy. That was often the case when it came to humans.
They were greedy for land. They were greedy for resources. They were greedy for power.
In short, one could say that the human race could never be satisfied. It was a nigh impossible feat. One that no one saw the possibility of accomplishing.
It was because of this same greed that the Henshaw Dynasty was currently waging war against the demi-humans, spilling innocent blood, and wasting the lives of their men.
The Henshaw Dynasty... was overwhelmed by Greed.
...
Daven stood atop the steep cliff, overlooking the ongoing battle. Cries of war, and cries of pain mixed and danced in the cool morning air.
The ambush had gone well. Too well, in fact. The humans had lost about a tenth of their forces, and two-tenths of their forces were injured and could not participate in the current battle. Right now, the demi-human army was matching up and even starting to suppress the human army, but the humans had also started bringing out their elites.
The skill that was being showcased and used by the human elites was clearly a huge margin above that of the normal soldiers. This was why they were referred to as Elites. It would take at least two dozen normal human soldiers to pin down a true Elite. That was just how good they were.
Daven wince when he saw the head of a demi-human fly through the air. His fist clenched even tighter, and blood stained his gray fur.
"Send out the High Ranking warriors, along with half of our dominants. Let us show the humans that we will not be pushed around so easily." Azreal, the council member who took the lead of the army when the Patriarch himself was not able to spoke to a messenger what was standing a few feet from him. The messenger nodded and vanished down the hill.
"Filthy humans. They will pay for each and every demi-human soul that has fallen today." Daven hissed out. He could barely keep his anger in check. As a leader, this was a very bad trait, but one could argue that Daven had never been angered to this point before.
The effect of mobilizing the high ranking warriors and half of the dominant warriors could immediately be seen on the battlefield.
The slowly advancing wave of humans had stalled, and the screams of the humans rang out more frequently. Slowly but surely, the human army came to a standstill once again.
"The deployment of the high ranking and dominant warriors has proceeded well. The human army had come to a stop." Azreal gave Daven the latest update on the situation.
"Wait... I can see something strange." Hando, the third and most powerful head of the Scout Regiment put a pause to any rising spirit. He leaned forward ever so slightly, squinting his eyes to get a better look. This move prompted a collective look of confusion among the other council members.
Hando had the best sight among every demi-human in their pack, including Daven, the patriarch himself. Some members of the pack even referred to his eyes as God's Eyes. Because of his unique vision, Hando was almost impossible to beat in a fight. It was almost as if he saw your next move before you even made it, making it easy for him to react and counter his opponent.
For Hando to squint in order to see something, then that meant that whatever was eluding him must be either aware of his presence, and have a means to block his vision, or that the entity that was eluding him was extremely powerful. Powerful enough to render his eyes almost useless at long distances.
"Patriarch. We have a problem." Hando eventually spoke up. His words caused a pit of dread to form in the bellies of everyone in earshot.
"What is it, Hando?" Daven asked. He already feared the worst...
"A Pillar is presently on the battlefield."
***
[The effects of your sub-optimal Evolution will wear out in forty seconds.]
Mian did not have the time nor energy to respond to Hana's helpful warning. He kept running at full speed, throwing up small clouds of dust wherever his feet landed. The massive group of demi-humans had not stopped running since they made it through the gates of the city. They had ran all the way through the open plains surrounding the city, and into the vast wilderness that spread forth beyond the plains.
Surprisingly, none of the demi-humans had chosen to leave the group, instead following the direction that Mian and Dion were running in, so they could meet up with the pack. Whatever happened from there would be up to them.
"Hey! Something is wrong!" Up above, the owl-like demi-human who had been second to join the escape plan called out to the runners below. "I see smoke up ahead. Something big is going on!"
Upon hearing his words, most of the demi-humans began slowing down. None of them wanted to run had first into possible danger!