It is autumn and the leaves turn gold and brown making a beautiful scene but the boy running with many people around him doesn't see it and so the sight before him goes unappreciated as the ones who are with him are waiting for the prey to come, it is a creature the size of a buffalo with four horns and lots of Evo energy within it.

They wait for it to walk over the pit they hid and as it does, they attack, their weapons do small scratches on it but even ants can kill a dragon if it is trapped, and the truth is the same here.

It takes near the whole evening to kill it and drag it to the tribe but arriving many are overjoyed to see the large creature now being tugged by the larger men while the boy with them nearly 12 years of age simply follows behind, there are many young children looking at the creature in fascination and some even seem to want to take a bite or two but this is meant to be a sacrifice and so all simply look.

They only need to give five of such creatures as a sacrifice so the three other ones that are of lower quality can be consumed by them and when the sacrifice is over, they will celebrate with a feast, the next day they are all dressed in their best furs and freshly washed for the higher-grade tribesman to come and take the sacrifice.

All are bowing in wait when something powerful is felt coming their way and their instincts scream to run but they stay bowing, it lands on its two back wings and large wings with massive thorns sticking out of it.

The elders recognize it as a wyvern and know something big must have occurred as such species only come out on the word of dragons, they stay with the head down and the elders that recognize it get on their hands and knees in respect and the other tribesmen seeing it follow.

Dallan is in the middle of the hunting pack when he feels it and can feel a slight tremble in his hands from the sheer amount of Evo energy within the thing, it descends, and he gets into a deep bow like the elders do without needing to be prompted.

The thing studies the sacrifices and seems to be contemplating something before finally it looks at the elders and announces why it was sent, "Your tribe has produced better and better sacrifices over the past three years and so we now give you the chance to send ten of your hunters to the mass hunt held in the eastern mountains, half of your catch there is your to keep and if you hunt well enough you may be offered to join a large tribe."

The elders know that the good hunting they do is thanks to field advantage and me being there and so thanks the wyvern but most likely will not be able to attend due to there small size and how far from it they are, the man seems to not care to much and leaves with the sacrifice as if nothing had occurred.

"When you finally turn 17 and the young ones are old enough to help watch the other ones, we will attend but not before then, everyone build up and advance as much as you can as the first showing is the most important."

Everyone is now serious and the meat that is set for the celebration is now even more imperative and most the people insist the better hunters eat more to increase strength for the hunt in 5 years from now, but the one they push to eat the most is me as I am by far the biggest merit to our hunters.

I had intended to leave this spring but now I may not need to as if we join a larger tribe I can easily disappear and the tribe will hide me to keep their advantage, things now fell into place almost to perfectly.

I eat more than ever that night and am so stuffed I collapse outside from over eating and the next two day is spent barely able to eat anything as my body is overstuffed with food and energy, I pretend to gain my partial form merely two days later and many where overjoyed but I can't help the sensation of my body still full of energy despite not advancing as if it needed more to advance then merely energy.

Winter comes and most are trying to practice as they can while eating more dried meat then usual but I wonder why no matter what I do I can't seem to advance and it is becoming almost painful now, I head out one day into the forest and look around trying to find even a hint when I find a small mushroom with some Evo energy and it's energy is soft where all others are harsh.

I eat it and the pain lessens slightly and the reality of why most can't advance past partial form is now clear as most only think animals hold energy but what one needs now is plant energy, so I scout out any plants but soon a problem shows as even searching all over only that mushroom and a small flower had Evo energy.

Wondering how to find more I return to the village while passing the garbage pit and feel nearly three different mushrooms in it to have Evo energy, I pluck the three and despite being disgusting eat them.

Hurrying to the village head I speak with him on a supposed vision that showed the only means for me to further advance is by plants with Evo energy that grow from the corpses of Evo animals, he seems shocked on my statement as they have never heard of such things but knowing how far the village has come from me he starts to gather remains like bones and rot and burry them in dirt.

We will wait till spring and the weaker ones will be buried while the stronger ones will be eaten by the village as they can't be sacrifices anyway, to supplement this we need to hunt more but we are already reaching the limit of our current hunting grounds, so I tell him to make it work we need to expand hunting grounds.

He refuses saying the three tribes around us already have those territories, but the ocean is open, he shakes his head telling me even dragons hesitate to cross that but it is the only way so I tell him I can do it.

I am unsure if I can truly hunt within the ocean but I will make myself do so even if it means risking my life as if I wish to advance without ruining the tribe it is the only option, so as the ice begins to thaw we hunt bigger game and the small ones are buried with many mushrooms and seeds thrown on top to increase the chances of them growing.

On one of the weeks breaks from the hunt I go to the ocean and begin to think on how to hunt within as I can feel just in the edge near me there are many high-grade creatures.

They only live within the water so what if I pull them to land to kill it, I won't need to worry on others surrounding me and the fish will be easy pickings. So, I look for the leather of the highest animal we have and approach the edge with it and a small amount for meat to a weaker creature tied to it, there is barbed pieces on it like what we use to hunt and when I see something bite down, I pull.

It takes me in animal form to tug it all the way out and I see a creature only half my size but nearly as much energy as me, it is a high-grade creature without a doubt.

Relaxing after that before returning to the hunt I wonder how the head chief will react to me when I bring what I hunted back, for the tribe no one has ever thought to use the ocean as a means of hunting and food but now as I pull another up it is clearly hard but comes with much more gains.

Returning with three catches I am sure the chief will approve of my hunting, and as I walk into the village with three things never seen before with scales and no legs many whispers as I sit the before the head chief.

He looks to the things and then me and I tell him to cut all but the white meat part off and feed to some animals bits of each of these three creatures so as to test for toxins, he sends for the hunters who all seemed fascinated by my catches an when he tells them what we shall do to make sure they are edible they cheer.

All three of the creatures I caught where in fact edible, so when the next break comes, they urge me to show them, and I tell them I use my sight to know when it bites down but can order them when to tug.

We catch nearly thirty creatures with only ten people and the carcass of only one low grade creature used to catch the thirty much higher-grade ones, it is a massive boost and of the ones caught all but one is edible meaning the option for food within the water is better than on land.

Soon it is decided that the weaker and younger ones will hunt on land and the more powerful and advance ones shall hunt in the water, we make sure to only use land animals for the sacrifice but the amount of dried creature meat now in storage is enough to have all eating it three times a day without problem.

Some spoiled till we learned how long it takes to dry the water ones, so the pile of dirt buried and seed covered creatures increased dramatically.

By the end of the winter most have almost reached the border of their bodies limits like me and have complained on feeling overwhelmed and pained some even seemed to look at me in sympathy as they learned I have had it longer then most, they also learn why the dirt pile exists and once spring arrives many can't help but glance at it in want for it to grow.

I am now 14 and the tribe once only 50 strong now stands at nearly 150 with all able to eat creature meat and no living sacrifice needed, we are thriving.

I am the first to be allowed to eat the things grown from our death pile and soon the others follow after me and seem all to relax at the warm soft feel the plants bring along with relax from the lack of pain, I am the first to lose the creature signs on my body and my ears slightly extend.

I am half way between a high elf and a normal elf but many whisper when they see this form and wonder if they will also advance to such thing, a boy merely five years old already is nearing his partial form and many of the young are much more capable then the current one but as births come this year a surprise comes as a women with a wolf form and a man who had dog and snake ancestry has a child with both and the child is born blind like me.

They ask me to teach the child my ways and I agree looking at my ticket to leave without having to worry on ruining my tribe with my absence, the boy has grey fur and white scales with light brown eyes that never looked at anything or so the people around me said.

Heading to the water I leave the boy with his mother who now has great pride in producing the blind mutant boy, I was set to be a sacrifice, but this boy will grow up praised and protected.

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Gathering sea creatures we have started to call fish to distinguish where they are from I think of the change in structure and cohesion the tribe now has, the boy will begin to learn transformation at the age of three like always and he will begin to hunt at the age of nine like most but the worth of a life is now different than it once was.

The sacrifice comes and goes with the massive feast of meat that can't be preserved along with the things grown on the pile that was all plucked before they could rot, we bury the lower and even some mid-grade creatures there to decompose over winter and put the seeds to freeze and grow once spring comes, our tribe grows with each passing year and as my fifteenth birthday approaches many of the bearing people approach me to mate with.

Bearers are usually females for most species though some do have male bearers or even both being able to bear but usually it is the female that reproduce, there is a reason mostly male children are abandoned while females are kept even if they are born weaker.

He rejects all bearers as he fears the defects any child he produces may hold and with his intent to leave eventually he knows he won't remain to care for any child he may produce if he even can as some mutants are unable to.

His 17th birthday approaches and he hopes for another to advance to the high elf but none seem to do so as they keep eating and compacting energy but always seem to need more to do so, he still remains the sole high elf but the child he has begun to teach has shown talent as when he taught him not to see with his eyes but instead with his senses he found some of the smaller creatures though he will need to learn to distinguish between poisonous creatures he is learning well.

This following winter is when they decided for them to officially join the hunt and with them sending more high-grade land creatures due to them having plenty of fish to eat and preserve, they only eat land creatures for varying diet and use the lower grade ones to grow food.

Speaking of growing they now had large gardens of varying fruit trees and mushrooms, there was a mass of greenery now around the tribe and the wooden walls surrounding the tribe to make alerting in case of creature break in easier.

As spring turns to summer and finally autumn the hunters pack up to head for the eastern hunting grounds of higher tribes and with them Dallan goes as the youngest but most important member who has been given rights by the head of the tribe to act as a representative, if he wants to, he can make alliances and deals with others.

Leaving the tribe for the first time in his life he heads to the mountain range they need to pass through to get to the more connected sections of the main land and wonder just how different the other tribes will be, it will be a three day journey to the mountains themselves and even more to pass them as they only have one person with them who has even gone this far before and only once in a trade caravan.

We stop at night to rest and to stay safe while marching in the day towards the mountains that encircle this section of land from north to south, finally they reach it and rest before entering the hardly treaded territory of the mountain.

They pack the next morning and head up the steep incline and rocky sections that are around it as it is a steep up jet from the bottom to the top and if not for their partial transformations they would be in even more trouble, even Dallan is in partial form as so to grip and jump better.

A week trip up a steep incline before they come to the summit and see over the edge to a massive bustling tribe only a few miles from the bottom of the mountain, but the mountain climb down is a small slope, it only takes 3 days to get down.

They come upon rock walls and fire sticks all over the place as they enter the section nearest to the mountain and the guard that lets them through thanks to the metal pass given by the wyvern stares in disgust at the clearly uncivilized people, we walk into this place and see hundreds all over with many shouting about items for sale and even some bearers approaching us to sleep with.

We use the pass to get a visitor's house on the very edge of the place that is run down by this place's standards but better than the huts and caves of our tribe, they are even made of something they called brick.

We leave the next morning to the clear relief and joy of the people running this tribe, heading in the south direction it is clear we are considered little better than how mutants are by the people as we have seen the mutants of this place be beaten and killed with no problems.

Some of the members in the party looked to me in worry as they saw many eyeing my ears but with me showing no problems and being with a token party they could only back off, still it was agreed I would hide my ears with a hood.

The clothes we now wear was bought using high grade energy meat in the tribe we passed by that was made using what they called wool and leather, it was long sleeved and had pants with high boots going nearly to my knees with the leather armor and hood covering the important parts for protection or, so I am told.

I end up dropping the leather hood intended for this set for a furred hood made from a Evo wolf we hunted that was black in color like myself, the seamstress seemed displeased with it till she realized it was high grade fur from a really advanced Evo creature which made it even better at protecting then normal leather she even offered to use it in place of the other armor parts but I had only brought a small amount so held off for later.

The seamstress insisted if I did then to come to her for it, she was a passionate person for her work and didn't seem to mind my mutations.

We pass three more tribes in the following week only staying the night before leaving to head east in order to make it to the hunting grounds in time to set up for the mountain hunt, we arrive at another convoy for this only a week off from the gathering location and they seem to be from a southern area with plenty of crops and small watering holes that allowed one to fish better and more easily.

They looked at the dried fish we had with interest as the fish in ponds aren't as strong as the stuff, we brought but when they heard we lived near and ocean and used a stream connected to it to fish, we travel together talking of all the different ways to fix the fish.

Arriving in a large open field with many tents and species all over the place we sperate but not before agreeing to meet up before leaving to discuss and alliance, we are sent sneers and glares as our tents are furred ones.

The other tents are mostly leather ones with the people all wearing some type of high-grade leather with unique colors like blue or white, but when they realize the fur is high grade fur from high grade creatures, they change their tune and begin to approach us to inquire into our tribe and our capabilities.

However, as they talk, they are told I am the one in charge and look at my clearly mutant features and scoff at this fact before trying to force unfair deals and trades on us.

We spend the time till the start of the hunt, which is when all the leaves have fallen, to talk with others and make alliances but we only make three due to the way the others treated us after learning I was the one in charge of our group which the rest of my tribesmen seem to approve of as they don't want to ally with someone who would mistreat some of our people.

One of our alliances is with a bird race that are interested in our fish, we talk for a while, and they don't seem to mind my mutant status.

So as the challenge starts, we set off into the mountains that cover even more land than the ones we passed to get here, these mountains are known to encapsulate a large area within its steep drops and due to the nature of it all the elves that have fallen into the meadow have not returned even those able to fly.

The air flow in the meadow is so harsh only legendary creatures can hope to escape the down draft of the wind and most die there, so as we walk through we keep our watch for drops while I take half shape to make searching for prey and keeping eyes on the other competitors easy as hunting near another competitor could lead to conflicts and disputes so we will do our best to avoid it.

The dragons run this competition, so everyone obliges by the no internal fighting or stealing rule but some purposely set others up to supposedly have done so, best to not risk such a thing by avoiding others all together.

The first day we catch three high grade and two medium grade creatures and the bear elf among us carries our catches on his back as we look for a good place to make camp for the night, we find a cave that is empty and doesn't go to deep and decide to use it for the night while we eat our packed food and laugh at hunting stories.

However, nothing goes as one wishes, and another team comes nearby, and we are on high alert in case they try anything, we remain awake and vigilant through the night and as dawn breaks, we leave going in the opposite direction of the other group.

They don't follow us and so we return to the hunt like nothing happened but that night the same group approaches once more and it is clearly deliberate as they went away from us through the day yet are now somehow near our own camp, I tell the others of this and they agree to have each keep watch and I will be up through the whole night to keep watch over any truly suspicious actions.

Through the night I keep watch in my half form as they send scouts to us and see us keeping watch through the night, one comes near us with a high-grade prey, but I rush to them, and they see me there looking at them despite the pitch blackness of the night due to there being no moon out.

They are a set of nocturnal birds so they probably assumed night would be their advantage, but I see energy not light, night or day didn't affect me.

Seeing me standing there staring at them they back off with their prey and I return to our camp to tell the others what happened, they probably intended to use that prey to frame us as having stolen it and by the way it was killed which is with talons it would be clear we aren't the ones to hunt it meaning in such situation we would have to pay recompense to them for this.

We all agree if they approach us the next night we will simply move again after they set up camp if they do so near us again after this, so as the morning comes, we pack up and take ourselves in the opposite direction of them and they seem to do the same.

We are hunting normally, and we now have a total of 10 high grade and 15 medium grade creatures, so as night falls, we set up our tents in a well-hidden area and tonight no one else is nearby.

We rest and return to our hunting letting us finally relax some and enjoy ourselves after the tense situation of the past two nights, if we wanted to we could accuse them of messing with us as we were unable to properly sleep with them nearby but it would mean making an enemy out of them and it was better to avoid that so we bit our tongues and continued on with the competition.

On the fifth day however Dallan was in his half form when something powerful came and it was simply like nothing he has felt as it was completely overwhelming, he was blinded by the ripples it put out and collapsed from the pain in his head it caused with its mere presence.

He is shaking and throwing up for the rest of the day and only once night comes and he sleeps does he feel well enough to continue but he has learned his lesson not to remain in the half form for too long or risk the same thing.

So, they hunted and finally the first snow marking the end of the hunt came with them having caught around 50 high grade and 100 medium grade creatures, although the best half of both of those were claimed as payment for letting them join, they still got plenty enough to allow many to advance some.

They stay for a while to talk with the other tribes and to finish the last bits of these alliances and trade deals when a person of the bird tribe they allied with approached him with a book in hand, she seemed very calm and levelheaded and when she started talking it is clear this was a good alliance to make. "This is the book most tribes have, and it explains runes for them, although only high elves can even use them it is good to understand them if you ever meet one as it will give you a better position in their minds."

She passes us the book and I hold it in my arms, it is made on paper so reading such a thing won't be possible for me but it is worth a lot so I thank her for it and offer to let her join our tribe in fishing should she wish, she said she will send representatives over for this and she hopes we can make a home near a cliff for them.

We are one of the last tribes to leave as leaving before another tribe means you believe you are better than them, we see all of them off and show respect to them making many approve of us thanks to our manners and ability to understand our station.

We leave to return to our tribe and pass back through the same tribes to return, the path back was faster as we where certain of the way and we only had to go down a steep mountain not up it, we returned to many peoples expecting gazes.

We showed them our large catches and many cheered and looked over all the food we now had of which a good amount was very high-grade creatures we couldn't hope to find here, kids where excited and the elders seemed to soften as they watched the events unfold.

Our tribe had been one of constant dwindling and loss but now we are growing rapidly, and our strength is increasing, and things will only get better as the next generation is more powerful than the one before them.