The year was 2324 AD, and the many alien races turned Earth into a battlefield. Even though many aliens arrived, four major races set up bases. The four primary races are the draconians led by Charir-Dar, the mermanians of Blue-Pole planet, beastmen of Planet Soile, and winged humans from Planet Adam. Each race hunted humans down, and the already dwindling race suffered much death and many more enslaved.
The beastmen landed in what was known as the country Canada. From their base of operations, they took over all of North America. The beastmen had a few deviations in their race, and the Canine variant ruled most of the United States.
Over the past five years, Leo had to confront several beastmen and evade them. If Leo didn't have Sprite, then the beastmen's powerful sense of smell and technology would have easily caught the boy.
Leo and Sprite hid in a destroyed building in the ruins of a city once called Nashville. Last two weeks, beastmen have been steadily tracking them, forcing the two of them not to stay in one place too long.
At this moment, Leo mediated on the roof of the building. Sprite guided him on absorbing the energy around them. With the intense sun beaming down on them, Leo gathered that yang energy into his tendons and nerves. This absorption would allow him to become more nimble and quick.
They found that the cultivation technique was very rudimentary and meant to be an axillary technique than a primary one. Luckily Leo had Sprite, and after experimenting for a year, they created a new manual. The 'Dance of Sun and Moon' technique became the 'Yin Yang manual .'The dancing part was too inefficient and was replaced with Taoist meditation. The dance portion became four techniques.
Using the yang energy in the body, one can perform the explosive leap forward called the 'Yang Step .'Also, using the volatile nature of yang energy, the second technique is a powerful uppercut named 'Rising Sun.'
On the opposite end, one can sidestep spin any attack by using yin energy gathered. Since the first one was Yang Step, Leo decided with Sprite to name this one 'Yin Step .'The last yin energy move is called 'Descending Moon,' a heavy but precise dropkick.
Leo's body resembled that of an adult man after all his training. His dark hair now touched his shoulders, and his muscles were much bigger than his younger self.
"Sir, we will need to look for supplies since the beastmen ran us away from our last base," Sprite said as Leo finally stood from his cultivating.
"Sprite locate some supplies then," commanded Leo. He stretched a bit and looked around at the surrounding area. They mainly chose this location to cultivate.
"Yes, Sir. Locating..."
From nearby, a rough voice yelled out, "Come out, human, I can smell your stench!" Even though the beastmen weren't on Earth long, they could English and Spanish from the conquest of North America.
"Sir, stop the search for supplies. A beastman at the equivalent level to Tempered Body stage 5 is nearby."
Leo sometimes wished to punch Sprite, but smacking his wrist would only hurt him.
"What is my chance of survival, Sprite?"
"25% in a head-to-head fight, Sir."
"When have I ever fought fair?" asked Leo jokingly. For the past five years, Sprite nagged him about following three rules for survival. The annoying AI always mentioned the first one the most.
"Exactly, Sir. Always fight smart and not bravely."
Leo looked down at the Canine Beastman wearing armor. The large beastman had thick fur, sharp teeth, and a jaw protruding, giving him almost a snout. Seeing the beastman get too close to the building, Leo smiled.
He leaped off the building, gathering energy into his leg. After hearing something, The beastman looked up to see a human coming at him, too quick to respond. With a spin, Leo landed a 'Descending Moon' onto the unsuspecting beastman.
The kick smacked the back of the beastman's head, slamming him forward on the ground. Blood oozed out the beastmen's heads, indicating how powerful that attack affected him. As the warrior tried to get up, a dagger flashed and pierced the back of the head. The beastman died without ever putting up a fight.
Pain swelled in Leo's heel. He was only mid-stage while his opponent was in the late stages of the Tempered Body realm. The hardness of the beastman's skull and body felt like a brick wall.
"Leo, your attack only had a 60% chance of working! Why did you risk your life like that? I can..."
Leo interrupted the AI before it reprimanded him for the next three hours. "Sprite. I had it under control. We can't run from them forever. Plus, look what he has." Leo held the beastmen's communication device. "Sprite, can you scan this?"
"Of course, Sir. Give me a moment."
Sprite scanned the device and discovered the frequency of receiving messages. The other fortunate thing is this was the first advanced technology Sprite had accessed and understood more of the beastmen race's technological level. The sad thing was the device was meant for communicating voice and held no crucial data.
"Sir, I have only picked up the frequency at which the device receives messages. If we are in the distance of another device, I may be able to intercept them."
Leo understood most of what Sprite mentioned in many of the strategic lessons Sprite taught him in intelligence gathering.
"Good job, Sprite. Let us find those supplies now. Please detect the beastmen sooner."
"Of course, Sir." Sprite paused for a second to locate some food or water. "Found some. They are 1-kilometer southwest from this location near the river."
"Alright, Sprite, let's get going after we hide the body."
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Meanwhile, two beastmen were heading towards Leo's location on rovers. The rovers were hoverbikes rode for patrolling long distances.
"Unit 9134 spotted a human at these coordinates," said the larger of the two beastmen.
As they pulled up to the spot, "Boss, I do not see any trace of Unit 9134 or the human."
"Unit 737 won't be happy. I'll look for clues here. You spread out in a 5-kilometer radius and find the culprit."
"Boss, do you think it's a rogue warrior?"
"It might be as we both know humans cannot defeat us."
"True. Heading out, Boss."
The smaller Beastman kicked off the ground, and the rover took off. Now only the team leader, Unit 9110, remained. He looked around until he found his subordinate, Unit 9134, dead. The knife finished him off, but the impact to the skull indicated to the team leader that a powerful blunt force had defeated him.
"Calling all available beastmen in the area to head to 36.16275 N, 86.7816 W. Need backup immediately. We have a rogue warrior."
Even though there were four primary races, many other aliens also arrived, and those races became known as the rogue warriors as their numbers didn't number more than a few hundred.
Unit 9110 couldn't believe his men ran into a cultivator. The team leader could only chalk it up to dumb luck. After looking at his dead subordinate, Unit 9110 realized all the wounds were close range.
"Unit 9131, do not engage in close combat. Use your blasters from a distance. I repeat, keep your distance."
Flying towards the river, Unit 9131 responded, "Roger, 9110."
Near Cumberland River, Leo was moving between broken places on the riverfront collecting supplies here and there.
"Sir, I detected a message. It is as follows..."
~~ Unit 9131, do not engage in close combat. Use your blasters~~~Roger, Sir~~
He realized another beastman was close and probably in the Tempered Body realm. They needed a plan quickly.
"Sprite, how far is the Beastman away."
"Sir, he is here. Duck behind the rubble, Sir." When Sprite tells Leo to do something, he never questions it. As Leo slid behind the destroyed building, the beastman blasted the spot he was standing.
The beastman cursed as his shots missed his target by mere seconds.
"Sprite, what just caused that destruction?"
"Sir, that seems like some blaster technology. From my far-range scans, it is definitely from the same tech that made the radio devices."
"So, that machine can fire projectiles at me like a bow or gun."
Since the enemy had a long-range weapon, they would need to change strategy. Leo reached into his backpack and pulled out a manufactured bola. He crafted the bola out of 2 rocks and handmade rope. At that moment, the beastman moved to circle Leo.
Sprite taught Leo how to manufacture many primitive weapons the AI had learned from human civilization. Sprite gathered most of it from the ruins of many buildings in DC.
Just as he got a view behind the rubble, two flying rocks struck him and ripped him off the rover—the bolas wrapped around the beastman's chest and head. The attack left a bloody mark on the back of the beastman's head. As Leo got closer, Unit 9131 used his claws to cut to bola.
"Die Human!" The beastman unleashed a claw strike infused with energy. The beastmen called this technique Iron Reaper Beast Art. Infusing energy into their claws, and depending on how much metal energy they can gather depends on their strength.
"Awwgh..." screamed Leo as a claw slashed his right shoulder. He used 'Yin Step' to dodge the second claw strike.
Sprite kept trying to warn Leo of strikes, but the fighting in real-time made it challenging to listen and respond in time. Leo kept burning through his yin energy, dodging each attack, but eventually, Leo tumbled and fell over.
The beastman finally got a look at the rogue warrior. It stopped in its tracks. The rogue warrior was a human Tempered Body warrior. The beastman froze from shock.
Leo saw his chance and channeled yang energy. He activated 'Yang Step' to quickly close the distance and used an 'Ascending Sun' to knock the beastman off his feet. Leo's fist connected to the beastman's chin and knocked him out. The boy began to pant as he was at his limits for using the energy within his body.
"Sir, I'm picking up a nearby message..." Since Leo was next to the unconscious beastman, he heard the message himself.
~~This is Unit 9110. I request backup at our patrol location ~~
There was a slight pause, and then a second message was transmitted.
~~Responding, Units 9346 and 9345 are on the way~~