The Evolution Chronicles

WHOOSH! THUD!

With a mighty thud, the anchor of the Midnight's Tragedy struck the seabed, firmly anchoring the beautiful warship to the shore.

"We've made it, men!" Malim announced to his crew as he jumped down from the deck of the warship, down to the sandy beach they had docked at.

Orders were yelled, and men and women ran across the deck. Before long, the various other ships that could claim a space on the beach had anchored themselves, while those that were unable to claim a space for themselves remained in the sea, while sending boats to deliver the soldiers to the beach.

Swish!

The waves close to shore turned a little violent before dozens of men and women emerged from the water. The looks of these people varied widely, but if there was one thing that they had in common, it would be that they were Merfolk!

At the front of the procession of the Merfolk, Tide stood, with his arms folded. Some crewmen from the warships quickly came bearing clothes for the Merfolk to put on. When they were in their other form, they had no need to wear clothes, as their scales and whatnot covered up their more sensitive parts, but when they changed into a human form, they would lose that covering.

"Malim, is this it?" Tide noticed the leader of this expedition and walked up to him. Malim turned to meet his fellow leader with a broad grin.

"Indeed it is, Shark! We have set foot on the Northern Continent after several months of travel. Ah, how I miss the land!" Malim was all smiles as he spoke. Although he was used to the sea, he still liked being on steady ground every once in a while.

Tide snorted at the human's excited reaction. He turned around to face the distant mountains, whose tops were hidden away by the clouds. A dense fog spread out beyond the beach, making it difficult to see into the distance. It was still quite early in the morning, and it would take some time before the fog cleared.

"Oi, Monkey!" Malim turned back to the warship and called out. Not long after, an annoyed sound rang out, just before a small, brown blur flew by Tide's face, and slammed right into Malim's forehead.

"Don't call me a monkey, you disgusting creature!" An angry voice yelled from the warship. There, a two and half meter tall monkey-like demi-human walked out from the cabin and jumped down onto the beach.

The male demi-human wore a pair of loose slacks, but left his chest bare. Thick, reddish-brown fur ran down the sides of his chest, and up his neck, before crowning his face. He indeed looked like a monkey, but he was very far from it.

Mohawk was a Wereape. His kind were based mainly in the Central Continent of Topor, and this was basically the first time he and his people were setting foot on the Northern Continent. It was rare to find Wereape in places that were cold, so they generally stayed away from the Northern Continent because of how cold it got during the winters.

Mohawk was one of the High Generals of his people. He was sent to assist the mission given to this massive army by Sir Delk, on behalf of the Wereapes that formed the Crescent Arc Empire, back in the Central Continent.

By taking part of this mission, and even possibly completing it, Mohawk would be able to bring back an immense amount of benefits and prestige back home to his people. The honor of carrying out such a mission was enough to make Mohawk drool over it. By the time he got back home, he could only just imagine the amount of prestige he could gain as a person. Finding a spouse and caring for her would definitely not be a problem. In fact, he could even have multiple spouses!

While Mohawk was distracted by his thoughts of money, luxury, and fame, he suddenly felt a strange feeling atop his head.

Mohawk's hand blurred as he immediately sought to catch the hand of the despicable human who was digging around through his bright red hair. He ultimately failed, as Malim was just as quick as him in pulling away his hand, and distancing himself from the frightening Wereape.

"Dammit, Malim! Watch yourself; I am not your plaything!" Mohawk turned to face the laughing man with a smoldering glare. His bright red eyes seemed to glow as he stared burning hot daggers at Malim.

The reason why Mohawk had gotten his name was because of his hair. Ever since his birth, the hair on he top of his head, which had always been longer than the hair on the sides of his head, had always stuck up, pointing upwards, like a Mohawk. As such, his parents had named him 'Mohawk'.

At first, Mohawk had been a laughing stalk among his peers, but he quickly shut them up through the use of his superior strength and agility. They never stood a chance among the Wereape prodigy of their generation.

"Ah, come on now! Your hairstyle is so cute!" Malim exclaimed, and Tide watched on with boredom, picking his ear. Even after all this time, Mohawk still carried his signature hairstyle, a one foot tall Mohawk adorning the top of his head, while the sides were shaved low.

"You insolent- Argh!" Mohawk grunted, before he burst with rage. His lean body swelled with supreme power, and his firm muscles filled up with unbridled strength. In the blink of an eye, he had vanished from the spot he was, and had appeared before Malim, one fist cocked back, and ready to punch the living daylights out of Malim.

"Oh?" Tide looked on with mild surprise. While he knew that the leader of the Wereapes was definitely not weak, he was still quite surprised at the level of strength that Mohawk was displaying, and he guessed that this was just at least half of what the Wereape was capable of displaying!

While Tide enjoyed the show, Mohawk continued to chase Malim around the beach, while hurling insults at the sly and slippery human. Suddenly, someone approached Tide.

"Rip!" A slim woman with accentuated curves called out to the large Merman. Tide turned upon hearing his nickname. His colleagues often referred to him as Rip, short for Riptide. He had no idea where the nickname came from, but it somehow stuck, and he took a liking to it.

The lady who had approached him was known as Ariel. She had a head of purple, spongy hair, a unique trait of her species. She was a Cecaelia, a branch of Merfolk, who had features of octopi, instead of fish.

"Ariel, what can I help you with?" Tide asked, pushing back his still wet hair from his eyes.

Ariel's eyes twinkled in delight as she watched the tight, defined muscles on Tide's chest stretch, and contract. She giggled a bit, before speaking.

"Now that we are here, what next? Do we go ahead and attack the Henshaw Dynasty, or do we help those under the control of the Herder Drug?" Ariel asked a serious question.

Despite her playful looks and behaviors, Ariel was actually a very skilled and professional hunter in the Merfolk community. She was not too far behind Tide on the ranking board of Merfolk mercenaries in the human guild halls.

"I still don't know; Malim had not yet shared any of his plans, but I believe we will first head to the Kraetor City that is not too far from here." Tide waved his hand and one of the men nearby brought over a recently updated map of the Northern Continent. The map depicted everything clearly, and the two were able to see where they were, and how much land separated them from the Kraetor City.

They were at the southern part of the Northern Continent, and the Kraetor City was just a few days' travel from their current position.

"Sir Delk was sure to guarantee us that this area would be a blind spot in the routine patrols of the scouts from the city. But even then, he pointed out that there is a massive hollowed out cavern in the side of these rocks that can hide out fleet." Tide pointed at a large cliff that sat to their right.. If the information that Sir Delk had given them was correct, then this area would be a great place for them to set up a beachhead.