Four! Four of the six deceased champions got replaced in the span of a month and not a year after they met their end. The fast replacement is reassuring since it means the siblings are excluded from the cycle but also foreboding. Champions getting replaced isn’t new; there have been times when only the isolationist species were left to complete the species, and in each and every case, it took hundreds of years for new champions to come and finish the job.

Despite the risks involved, curiosity gets the better of her and Sylva use magic to look at them in order of rebirth. The first two are a giant insect and a monstrous wolf, and they’re ignoring her to travel westward.

The sight reminds her of simpler times when only mindless insects and fishes roamed the world. The uncomplicated creatures were far more accepting of their death, so grudge and miasma accumulated at a much slower rate and those were boring eons, punctuated with rare but horrible deaths.

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Pain assail The Wolf in its sleep, and a new hatred overwrites everything. The hunger that guided most of its actions is gone, but so are its desire to find a mate and overthrow the alphas. When the pain rescinds, it gets up without giving the other wolf pups transfixed by fear, a single look. It has no hostility towards its former sibling, but the sense of kinship is gone as well, all that is left is the Directive; kill the two legs.

It heads towards the setting sun; where his targets are, and along the way, it runs into a giant insect. Not so long ago, it would have fled from the creature, but now they are united in a single purpose.

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The next two are far weaker than the previous human hero, although it makes sense since he probably killed the champions of nature before reaching her.

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Me, Gustavo, the hero? How ridiculous, I’m a scholar first and mage second. I can’t fight and I don’t exercise; it has to be an error!

“You must be kidding; did you get a good look at me? An eight-year-old could beat me in a fight.”

“Are you accusing the oracle of lying?”

That’s heresy, but… “Wasn’t the emperor’s son the hero? It has to be a political maneuver; there was never a time when two heroes appeared one after another and I would know; I’m a scholar.”

The knight answer with a dejected tone, “I’d rather not believe it either, but you’re him, there is neither homonym or homophone, you fit the description, time and place.”

“But I’m weak!”

“Heroes get empowered…” the knight gives me a sad understanding look, “Listen, if it’s an error, it’ll be discovered sooner than later. In the meantime, I’ll be there to protect you so just do your best to survive.”

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In retrospect, the advent of intelligence was the best thing that happened to Sylva. Sure, they were cruel and violent with each other and generated miasma and curse at a much faster rate, but even if she had to die more often, she could make it interesting for her and for them. And that wasn’t even the best part though, they made things that gave a purpose to her life, and made her into the person of wealth and taste she is today.

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At night, a Rabbitman girl sits in a corner of her cell; she is nameless, there’s no need to differentiate slaves. She used to be a possession in Beastmen society, and now she’s in the same situation with giants and it’s not an improvement, if anything she has an even higher chance of becoming a snack.

She’s in pain, but hides it, if she’s found sick, her life is forfeit so what choice is there but to endure?

Morning comes, and the pain caused her to stay awake all night. Strangely, she doesn’t feel tired; quite the contrary, she feels stronger than ever.

Two giants direct the slaves out of their prison and as usual, the brutes enjoy hitting the captives; it weeds out the weak as any who cannot get up from the punishment becomes food. The blow projects her forward, but there is no pain… Is she sick? Could it be her sickness removed her sense of pain? An end of her suffering is certainly welcomed, but it will get her killed and at this rate it’s only a matter of time before she ends up as food.

Today’s work is in the kitchen, the worst place to be, the heat is unbearable, the instruments weight a ton and the food they prepare is made of people, mostly her brethren. She and three others bring a pot to the fire, and it feels light, so light that she could probably carry it on her own.

Something inspires her to grab a knife, not one intended for her race but for giants, and it weighs nothing, or at least it appears to be the case until she tries to swing it and find herself dragged away by the blade.

She calls to one of her few surviving friends, “Come here, there’s something I want to show you.”

The other approaches circumspectly; being caught slacking is a highway to snack-town, but her thoughts are blown away by the surprise of she seeing her old friend carry an object that even Beastman lords would have trouble moving.

“I don’t know why or how it happened, but I’m stronger than any lord. I want you to help me make a weapon, find a long shaft while I repurpose this enormous cleaver into an Ax for me. Giants are strong and their legs thick but I assure you, I’ve cut enough people to know where the arteries are!”

The question is where to go, going back home is out of the question, the situation will get better for her but not for her brethren. Same for the great forest, leaving the road for an extended time is suicide. It only leaves one solution; to find allies who hate her enemies as much as she does. There is something, she didn’t pay much attention at the time, but both the giants and the lords referred to them with awe. It’s risky, they have no reason to accept her and the other escapee, but she knows a lot about her enemies’ territory, more than her masters suspected.

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Intelligence changed everything, spirits mixed with the new mortal races, and gave birth to dwarves and giants. Primitive Faes born from simple beast fear also evolved from simple shadowy fang and killer trees into more complex thoughts and fears; shadowy stalkers, doppelgangers, dryads, and finally the Elves King and Queen, the representation of order and chaos.

Yes, even if she is loath to admit it, intelligent life made the cycle more tolerable.