The Record of Unusual Creatures

In the lush virgin forest in the Kingdom of Taros’ southern part, a messy but lively temporary camp was preparing dinner for the day. A pack of black wolves, each as large as a bullock, was tearing a long, jungle monitor lizard of a few dozen meters apart and peeling off its thick skin. The gnolls, using the precious magic camphor wood, had made a giant bonfire. Light and heat dispelled all the surrounding beasts as well as monsters, and even held back the power of Chaos, which tried to get close. The demonic apes and monster bears that used to be enemies, were working as a team, collecting fruits and protecting the camp. If an elf scholar from the Green Tower had seen the scene in the forest, its eyes would have been out on stalks. Every type of beast there was theoretically impossible to get along with. There would only be one outcome by putting them together and making them coexistence: a melee. They would beat each other’s brains out.

Yet, these beasts, out of character, huddled together peacefully and saw eye to eye. They had gotten used to their life of coexistence.

Because a leader had united them, this leader was firm, fair, and majestic, who would bite off the head of anyone daring to defy her, be it a wolf, a bear, or even a stinky imp.

After a double-digit of hapless chaps challenged the alpha and lost, the beasts from the floating islands were in an unprecedented unity.

Calaxus, in his usual monk robe, sat on a stone near the bonfire. His thin cheeks were reflecting the red fire nearby. The gnolls, which had a notorious reputation in the human world, had made a spot near the bonfire their territory. So the members of the investigation team were afraid to get close to the campfire, except the high-ranking monk. Calaxus seemed to have accepted the status quo of under the protection of the beasts and showed great respect to the alpha. Observing the behavior of the alpha quietly, the monk was completely surprised, and sometimes even shocked.

The alpha seemed to know all the languages—not only of the beasts but also the humans. She could use different roars to issue orders to the herd, and spoke surprisingly pure Ansu or Collow lingo with the members of the investigation team. In this afternoon, she even used fluent ancient Zlor to reason with Berman, the monk, because Berman had used this ancient language scolding an imp who tore his robe. The argument had left a deep impression to the high-ranking monk. The alpha wolf, who seemed to come from the jungle, draped in animal skin, and boorish, talked down to the Berman, known as a language master, in Zlor language, rendering him speechless. Calaxus started to suspect that the alpha came from the ancient Zlor Empire!

At first, when the alpha came, Calaxus thought that she was a human orphan who went to the floating islands by chance. Rough and fatuous were his first impression of her, but now he felt that he could not have been more wrong.

What he was more curious about was the Light of Order the alpha emanated.

The strong, gentle, seemingly inexhaustible Light of Order had shielded everyone, allowing this massive team of beasts to survive in the dangerous Shadowy Forest in the south. The aftermath of the storm of Chaos had spread to the mainland and probably had polluted the entire southern part of Ansu. They were now in the Chaos-infested part of the jungle, where the twisted vision and chaotic monsters they encountered were proof. But all these dangers had not stopped the alpha and her pack. This girl of ‘holy incarnation’ seemed to have no idea where she was going. Driven only by enthusiasm, she led her army of beasts through the forest overrun by the Chaos. They were now leaving the wild jungle and for the Order in the Kingdom of Taros.

Holy incarnation… Calaxus repeated the words in his mind. Looking at the alpha, who was glowing in a sacred light, standing on a boulder, and scolding the dumb monster bears, he felt a bit strange. As a high-ranking monk, his heart inevitably revered the Light of Order that Lily emanated. But his mind wanted to find out the secret behind this phenomenon: what makes a mortal capable of having this divine energy? He wondered.

Is it as the prophet of the ancient Zlor Empire said, there will be a chosen one among the mortal who will inherit the blood of the goddess?

But why did such a chosen one end up on an uninhabited floating island? Why did she not lead the humans or elves to fight the Chaos, but instead decided to lead a group of beasts? What does this mean? Has the mortal lost the trust of the goddess?

Calaxus could not help but quiver when he thought of that.

“Hey, uncle, are you cold?” A loud voice interrupted the thoughts of the high-ranking monk. Before he could look up, a white shadow flashed across his peripheral vision. Lily, who wore a wolf skin, had already jumped up a boulder before Calaxus and looked at him with a pair of big bright eyes. “Why are you here at the bonfire alone?” Lily asked.

Calaxus was stunned, only to realize that the alpha was talking to himself. “Alpha, thank you for your concern. Others are probably afraid of your beasts,” he replied.

Lily scratched her head and looked at the humans who had made a smaller bonfire not far away. “What’s going on? My men are pretty nice to them, aren’t they?”

“Please don’t get me wrong,” Calaxus quickly explained. “Everyone is grateful for your help. The people of the sanctum are not ungrateful people. Just that we appreciate you for saving us, but we are afraid of your beasts. We couldn’t help ourselves. Perhaps you don’t know, your men, most of them are notorious in the human world.”

What Calaxus said was true. The abhumans of the barren land had always been the bogeyman in the civilized world. The human civilization could continuously expel these barbaric abhumans by force, but when humans came face to face with these powerful monsters alone, fear would paralyze them.

If a well-trained knight removed his weapon and armor, he might not be able to fight off a minor demonic ape.

The investigation team now had only 30 people remained, but there were thousands of beasts around them. If these beasts were to lose control suddenly, then the human investigation team might choose between dying a horrible death or dying a more horrible death.

Lily knew what Calaxus meant, but she could not care less. “Whatever. I am the leader of the beasts. But you guys can do as you like. Oh, my poor balloon!”

While saying, she looked in a direction, where her hot air balloons—or airships—crashed.

The airships could have arrived in the southern forest safely, but a sudden storm—not a supernatural storm of the forces of Chaos but a natural thunderstorm and gale—hit them. This kind of weather was standard on the continental edge. The Light of Order in Lily had lost its use. The hot air balloon fought with nature in the storm, and finally performed a thrilling forced landing—or rather a crash landing.

Except for a few unfortunate guys thrown out during the storm, most of the passengers survived. The beasts had even salvaged a little cargo from the wreckage. Such was the result of Lily’s great voyage.

The alpha sighed again, anguishing over the loss of her hot air balloons, and also the blue-whale rib, the most heavenly meat which she wanted to save it for her landlord.

Calaxus, of course, knew what the concern of the alpha. But he felt no better than her: the flagship magic-powered warship of the sanctum had just crashed into the abyss of the Chaos in his hand. He started to shiver when he thought of it.

If he were to pay for the loss, he would have to pay with his wages for the rest of his life.

Lily sat beside the bonfire for a while and started to yawn. Looking at the white glow in her body, she was in a double bind. “It glows as bright as a flashlight, and I have had three sleepless nights in a row.”

Calaxus coughed profusely.

A sudden commotion outside the camp interrupted Lily’s complaint and the monk’s coughing.

Two imps covered in blood were screaming as they ran back from the forest.