In a large forest, an Evo-beast that looked like the mix of a bear and a warthog, the size of a tractor, grunted its way amongst the shrubbery. Sniffing on some grass in a nearby bush, it snorted, before walking towards it. With a single sweep of its tongue, it ripped the grass off its roots and chewed noisily.
It continued it's grazing, oblivious of its surrounding. Which human was strong enough to kill him?
Unbeknownst to it, someone was. Just above it, in the trees, the figure of a man lay crouching on a thick branch, watching and waiting.
He stood at six feet five inches, a lanky lad with a low cut hair and a slight receding hairline. He wore a black sleeveless tank top and military green camouflage cargo pants with a pair of black rough boots. On his back was a large briefcase, as tall as a man. He looked at the Evo-beast waltzing like no one's business and smiled. He's been stalking it for a week now, and now was the time for him to strike.
He knocked his hand unto the briefcase strapped on his back, which opened in turn. Immediately, a three feet retractable bow, with two blades on either side popped out and fell into the man's open palm. At the center of this retractable bow was a crystal, azure in color, which hummed as if alive.
"Ogbunigwe (Killing Machine)" he whispered. A low hum replied him as if saying, let us go.
He pulled an arrow from a compartment just underneath the briefcase. Nocking it, he took a deep breath and drew. Then instantly, he let loose. The arrow whistled through the air, before lodging itself into the back of the Boar-like Evo-beast. The boar roared in pain as it threw itself towards a nearby tree. Crashing into it, it gained some semblance of sanity, before looking directly at the tree the arrow came from. Waving from that tree was the man who shot it in the back.
The Evo-beast went into a berserk rage, channeling Quather through its body, before it charged towards the tree. With a single smash from its head, it uprooted the tree. The man on hit jumped off to another just when this happened, firing off another arrow towards its back again. The Boar went even crazier than before, charging almost blindly as it grunted and squealed so loud, the forest shook. The man jumped from tree to tree with such fluid movements, as if he was a monkey raised in these parts. No matter how quickly the boar Evo-beast rushed towards a tree, he was already on the next just as quickly. Soon the man had led it through a rough patch of forest pathways.
Just as it entered the pathway, its hooved feet had stepped on a trap. It was a large bear trap made up of some very hardy metal, and its tips laced with QC's. The traps teeth dug into the boar's leg, causing it to squeal in pain. It stomped its foot, sending Quather into its wounded leg to shatter the trap, before turning its red raged eyes towards the man who had caused it such pain. The man smiled and waved just about thirty meters away from the boar, before nocking another arrow and firing. This time, the arrow went straight for its snout.
SKREEE!!!
Now the pain had become even more rage fueling. The boar charged forward without care, a trail of uprooted vines and small plants in its wake. Just then, a small patch of needles dipped in an unknown liquid flew from a nearby brush, hinging itself to the boar the beast shook the needles of its fur, as if it was nothing. But this reaction made the man smile even brighter, with a gleam of amusement in its eyes.
In a few seconds, the Evo-beast had made it across twenty metres. But then it noticed something odd. It seemed its vision began to grow blurry. The man who should have been minced meat by now seemed farther and farther away. Soon, it felt its legs buckle in lethargy, its eyes dim in solemn slumber. It willed itself to move forward, but seemed to not be in control of its body.
So close, but to never get closer, to come so far, but to go no farther.
Soon, it felt its legs leave the bushy ground, as it toppled on the floor, forever to never open its eyes.
The boar crashed towards the floor due to its charge. The man with the mechanical retractable bow soon clicked a button on it, causing the string to retract itself. The Bow then metamorphosed into a small spear about five feet in height.
Ogbunigwe: Spear Mode
Just as the boar skidded to a halt in front of him; its massive frame as tall as a man, even while on the floor, he plunged the spear into its head, causing blood to gush out like a faucet. Soon he took out a knife made of beast bone from his back pocket. Then with fluidity, he cut open and dissected the beast, skinning its fur out, before carving his way to its internal organs. With swift and clinical precision, he cut out a ball-shaped object just above its heart; Its Beast core of D-Rank. Then he cut out the heart and looked at it, before placing it to his open mouth. In one motion, he chewed and then swallowed it whole.
"Mhmm! tastes better than the Soju Lion at least" he mumbled to himself, before continuing to carve and butcher the carcass.
It took less than ten minutes before he was done. Afterwards, he began to pack up the carcass to a small hut not too far away from his hunting ground. In two trips, he was able to transport all the edible and useful parts of his prey, leaving the rest for the birds of the air and scavengers of the forest. Next to his hut was a black Harley motorcycle with a small case on its back. The case was made up of chrome like metal and QC's, giving of a feel of extremely high grade technology.
He tapped a few ties on the lid, soliciting little beeping noises and square blue lights to appear on top of it. The lid clicked open with a mechanical hum, blue light and smoke spilling from its mouth. The man looked into the box and began to place the carcass into it. For such a small box, it took up a lot of meat.
"Technology these days, makes things so easy." he clicked his tongue. This box was known as a storage box that allowed Ascendants carry supplies and loot much more easily. The man after loading the box, walked into the hut and came out wearing a grey windbreaker jacket, on one shoulder was his weapon briefcase, on the other a duffel bag. He now wore a pair of reading glasses with thin rims. His keys jangled as he locked up the hut and mounted his bike, before kicking the engine to life. He soon zoomed off the beaten path, before driving off into the main tarred road after fifteen minutes.
Just then, he turned on the radio and caught a signal of a local fm station.
This is RayPowerFm 96.9 coming to you with the morning drive. Its 8 am this Saturday May 19th 2025 and we wish you a good morning people. Now for the early morning pick me upper…
And then a screech before a song took over the airwaves. It was a popular oldie every Nigerian must have heard once in their lives.
Which way Nigeria…
The man pushed on the throttle before zooming off into the distance. He soon left the forested area for more field like scenery, then the traffic slowly increased.
I want to know, about my fatherland…
The man raised the throttle, accelerating at two hundred miles per hour as the song rang in his head like an anthem.
I want to know, which way Nigeria
Is heading to…
In about ten minutes, the man noticed the traffic increasing ahead. A thought popped into his head, causing him to slow down his motorcycle. Just ahead was a road block, mounted by the Military personnel. According to national law of the African Coalition, every twenty kilometres of land stretch should have military personnel, led by at least two ascendants. The queue of cars, buses and trucks could be attributed to these checks. Because he was using a smaller vehicle, he maneuvered towards the check point with ease, stopping when a man in military uniform walked towards him to stop him.
He nodded towards the soldier, who looked at him with a deep, scrutinizing gaze, before the soldier looked at his suitcase.
"What's inside the case?" he asked, indicating with a turn of his head for the man on the bike to park. The man smiled and looked towards the mini shack filled with soldiers, before nodding to a dark skinned man with long dreaded hair, in mufti instead of the military green. The man looked up and nodded back, before signaling the soldier to let the cyclist pass.
The cyclist zoomed off into the distance, taking no heed to the soldier who stopped him. The soldier, confused, walked towards his superior to ask why he let the boy go easily.
"Na Oga pikin that one be (He is that 'Boss's' child)"
The soldier lifted his brow, before a trace of understanding finally hit him. He nodded and put the face of the man to mind.
An hour of riding and slowing down for checkpoints, and the man suddenly turned to a rough uncompleted granite road. The man drove down the road, greeting back any passerby who saw him and greeted with a wave and a smile. He soon drove to a large toll gate with a sign that said 'Ossissa Town' which blocked the road ahead. In front were men dressed in brown long jackets and black trousers with a red bandana tied across their foreheads. The Local Vigilantes, as they were called. They, like the military, did stop and checks on vehicles entering the town. The man drove forward, oblivious of the small queue and greeted the one in front.
"Nzeogwu, how far now?"
"Ahh! Eze. You have returned." The man replied in shock. He smiled soon after and spoke.
"I hope your hunt went well. I will come and collect my own share later"
"Normal now" Was the man on the bike, Eze's reply. He nodded to the vigilante, who smiled and let him through the toll gate. Eze zoomed off, focused on his trip home. He'd being hunting for the past three months and hadn't even had much communication with the outside world. He had a lot to catch up too, but most of all, he missed his bed so much.
He took a few turns, before entering a close near a hillside, the final stretch. He clicked a button on the throttle handle of his bike, revved the engine, and zoomed into the street. Just at the end of the street was a compound with an open gate. He drove quickly inside, before re-clicking the button on the throttle, bringing the gate to a close.
The compound was as large as two football fields combined. At the back of the compound was a small four-bedroom bungalow with red aluminum roofing sheets. The house was painted light green, with a well gardened porch. The rest of the compound was filled with trees and well placed shrubbery. Even a small farm could be seen near its backyard. Just at the entrance were a few vehicles parked. A small blue sedan and a large monster truck with large tires. Under the truck was a pair of shriveled but strong looking bronze legs and some well-placed tools. Eze parked his bike right next to the truck and jumped off.
"Ajay sir" he greeted the figure under the truck.
"Eh? Eze, you're back. Took you long enough" the voice said, before suddenly lifting the three-ton truck slightly, revealing a familiar but old face.
It was Iron law, but a slight amount of wrinkles and greying hair. His smiling face stained with splotches of oil and grease showed almost a youthful twinkle in his eyes, even his face showed a serious tone to it. When one looked at him and Eze, one could see the uncanny resemblance between them. Eze looked more of a vibrant, thinner and taller version of Lawrence at his prime.
"How was the hunt?" Iron Law asked dropping the truck down before continuing his work under it.
"It went well, though I ate most of the prey" Eze replied, slightly scratching his chin. When he looked at his father, he flinched in fear at his father's deep eyes, before gaining the composure to continue speaking
"But I still got enough meat to last us a month. It's in the capsule box" he said, before turning to go into the house.
"Nbene'oh. Go and freshen up, Chioma will soon be back. She'll be excited to see you" Lawrence replied, before laying down on the mat on the floor, before dropping the truck just over him. Soon, sounds of metal clinking could be heard. Eze whistled a tune as he walk to the veranda, the box on the back of his bike in hands, whilst the large weapon briefcase and the duffel bag were on his left and right shoulders respectively.
Grrrrufffgh!!!
Eze chuckled when heard the growl coming from beside him. He dropped the box on the ground, facing behind him, only to see a large eight feet beast like dog looking at him with its dark pupils.
"Mazi Ikenga, Long time no see" Eze called, before scratching the head of the oversized dog. This was his family's pet, Ikenga. An Evo-beast named the 'Were-Dog' brought and raised by his mother for hunting; it grew to be a B-Class beast that stood guard over the Ugo family.
The were-dog Ikenga snorted, before looking at the case Eze had dropped with squinted eyes and sniffed. It then turned to look back at Eze snorted.
Gruff! Gruff!!
Eze knew what this meant after living with Ikenga his whole life.
'Give me meat! The tailbone most likely'. Ikenga had some queer tastes for Evo-beast tailbone. Eze walked towards the box, opened it and pulled a large chunk of the boar meat he had killed. With his impressive arm strength, he ripped a portion from the tailbone area, along with the tailbone itself, before tossing it to Ikenga.
He lifted the box, dropping it by the side of the veranda, before walking in; oblivious of the sound of ripping flesh behind him.
He went through the parlour and into a door, walking into a neat large bedroom, on the left was a big single bed and on the right was a desk with a pc on it. Next to the window was a workbench filled with advanced mechanical tools. He nodded slightly, before walking towards the bathroom and taking a long, overdue washing.
As he got out, he sniffed the air.
"Chioma is back huh?" he noted to himself. Just then, the main entry gate opened and a young girl with a small afro, wearing a green and grey school uniform, walked into the yard. Eze, though not an awakened, had a very powerful innate skill; A powerful sense of smell. He could recognize most scents that even trained bloodhounds fail to detect, as long as it was in a range of 600m around him. Couple that with his good eyesight and abnormal human strength, he could hunt Evo-beasts of at least the E-class.
E-class Evo-beast were usually Evo-beast which had gone through partial mutation from a quatheric burst. They were stronger than normal wild animals; they were nothing close to D-class Evo-beasts that had gone a full mutation.
Eze put on his clothes and walked of the room.